European Union countries are trying to raise $1.5 billion in emergency funding to provide Ukraine with artillery shells from abroad to strengthen the front line against Russia.
What is known about the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine
The Czech Republic has initiated the latest action on purchasing ammo outside the EU to compensate for the impasse in Congress regarding US aid and delays in European production.
Officials familiar with the discussions say the country needs European partners to help fund the $1.5 billion in munitions purchases that Prague has been arranging since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The Czechs have done all the work, but they need money from others, said a person familiar with the initiative.
Some EU members have already contributed, officials familiar with the Czech scheme say.
EU ambassadors failed to reach a deal on munitions purchases outside the bloc at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. They set their sights on agreeing rules for the new capital injection before a summit of EU leaders on March 21.
Germany is insisting that its contingent contribution of around 1.25 billion euros be reduced to reflect its large bilateral military aid to Ukraine, which will amount to 7 billion euros this year.
France and Greece insist that the expanded EPF must purchase arms and ammunition only from EU and Norwegian manufacturers, which would prevent it from financing the Czech plan or ammunition from the US.
What is known about the shortage of shells
Ukrainian defenders are experiencing a shortage of artillery shells, which directly affects the situation at the front. In particular, recently, Ukrainian defenders had to retreat from Avdiivka against the background of a complicated situation around the city.
After that, Ukraine's MFA chief, Dmytro Kuleba, stated that Kyiv would not have lost Avdiivka if the allies had delivered artillery shells in time.
According to him, the scale of the Russo-Ukrainian war has reached the level for which ammunition depots were not ready.
According to Ukraine's MFA chief, governments need to sign longer-term contracts with manufacturers of projectiles in Europe.
It is necessary that Ukrainian and European manufacturers work together more and increase production. Let's remove all administrative obstacles. Basically, we need to create something like a common market for defense industries. This is the mission of the EU as an institution — to remove obstacles to the movement of capital, people and goods. And this should be done for the defense industries," Kuleba noted.
