However, a senior European official told The New York Times that EU countries can only produce 650,000 shells a year.
He said Ukraine needs, at a minimum, 250,000 artillery shells a month.Ĭurrently, Ukrainian forces are firing about 120,000 a month - about a fifth of the rounds they would ordinarily use. Ukraine's defence minister Oleksii Reznikov made similar comments in a letter leaked to the Financial Times, saying his army's efforts to hold back Russian attacks in the Donbas region are being hampered by a lack of ammunition. Last month, EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell said delivering ammunition to Ukraine was the "most urgent issue", adding: "If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger." The purchase would cost an estimated €4bn. Shells are therefore becoming more expensive, and arms manufacturers want large orders with guaranteed money if they are to increase production.ĮU defence ministers are meeting in Stockholm today to address the issue, which includes considering proposals to order and purchase up to one million shells for Ukraine using the bloc's budget.
Ukrainian soldiers are being forced to cut back significantly on the amount of artillery shells being fired - but they are still going through stocks faster than the West can produce or supply them.
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