Ukraine says only 30% of promised EU artillery shells received
Ukraine has received less than a third of the one million artillery shells the EU has promised to deliver by March, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday (26 February).
“Out of the million shells that the European Union promised us, not 50% came, but 30%, unfortunately,” Zelenskyy told reporters, speaking alongside Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov in Kyiv.
The EU made the pledge last year, but in January, it acknowledged that it would be able to supply only half the initial one million shells earmarked to be provided by March.
According to EU numbers, based on information provided by the bloc’s member states, since February 2023, the bloc has donated 355,000 ammunition rounds to Ukraine.
The donation number is expected to reach 524,000 rounds by the end of March, with around 1,155,000 ammunition rounds scheduled by the end of the year, according to EU estimates.
While those figures represent donations, EU member states also provide ammunition to Ukraine via commercial contracts. However, those numbers are usually not publicly available.
EU’s Borrell urges member states to find ways to send more ammunition to Ukraine
EU member states should find ways to increase support to Ukraine, particularly the delivery of badly needed ammunition, the bloc’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell urged his counterparts in a letter seen by Euractiv.
EU member states should find ways to increase the delivery of badly needed ammunition, the bloc’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell urged his counterparts in a letter first reported by Euractiv last week.
Ukraine urged the EU to take “urgent steps” to increase deliveries earlier this month by easing regulations and signing contracts with defence companies.
Kyiv has stepped up warnings that its troops are increasingly outgunned and outmanned, with a shortage of ammunition hampering its armed forces’ ability to push back at Russian troops.
It has since been forced to withdraw its forces from the embattled eastern town of Avdiivka, handing Moscow its first major territorial gain in over a year.
“By the end of March, the EU plans to deliver almost 170.000 rounds to Ukraine and is working to further increase the volume of deliveries,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced over the weekend.
On Monday, at a dedicated Ukraine support summit in Paris, there was progress on a Czech-led initiative to buy hundreds of thousands of ammunition rounds from third countries, which France has been cautious about as it wants to prioritise developing Europe’s industry.
Read more with Euractiv
