The EU’s aim is to provide Ukraine with 1 million 155-millimeter artillery shells this year.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is chairing the meeting, is seeking approval for a proposal to provide 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to encourage member nations to provide artillery shells from their stocks and any orders for new rounds that they might have placed with industry.
A further 1 billion euros would then be used to fast-track new orders and encourage member countries to work together on those purchases through the European Defense Agency or in groups of at least three nations. Germany has already called for countries to join its effort.
The third track of the scheme involves support to Europe’s defense industry so that it can ramp up production in the longer term. EU officials have said that new joint orders could be placed by May if the plan is endorsed.
Germany’s defense industry says it stands ready to ramp up its output, including the kinds of arms and ammunition needed by Ukraine, but that it needs clarity about what governments want before investing in further production capacity.
Ukraine became the world’s third-largest importer of arms in 2022 after Russia’s invasion triggered a big flow of military aid to Kyiv from the United States and Europe, according to Swedish think tank SIPRI.
“What’s important for us as an industry is to get predictability,” Hans Christoph Atzpodien, the head of Germany’s arms manufacturing association, told The Associated Press last week. “That means we have to be clearly told which products are needed within which time.”
*This story has not been edited by The Infallible staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.
