Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called on bloc members to send weapons to Ukraine.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, he backed Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’ call for joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine, noting that it would speed up the process, according to Reuters reporting.
Estonia pointed out that the move would encourage EU arms manufacturers to invest in the expansion of production, stressing that the bloc would make a large order on behalf of member states.
EU officials noted that they are discussing the possibility of joint procurement of artillery shells for Ukraine, noting that the bloc’s foreign ministers are to discuss Estonia’s proposal in Brussels today.
“I completely agree with the Estonian Prime Minister’s proposal, we are working on that and it will work,” Borrell stated but warned that the plan would help Ukraine in the medium term and stressed the importance of sending supplies as soon as possible from existing stocks.
“This shortage of ammunition needs to be solved quickly… it’s a matter of weeks,” Borrell stressed and added, “this cannot be solved by going into joint procurement… because any procurement that comes to the market will come at the end of a queue of a long list of orders already passed by the member states.”
Some support in the bloc
Joint procurement of ammunition would require the approval of EU member states and some have already announced support for the move, but it is not clear whether other bloc members are in favor.
Kallas warned that Russia fires as many shells in one day as Europe manufactures in one month. She added that European arms manufacturers told her they did not receive orders large enough to increase production or invest in the expansion of production capacity.
According to Kallas, some EU member states wrongly believe that Ukraine’s need for ammunition was only a short-term problem.
“It seems to me that some of the countries are still in the hope that it will go away,” she concluded.
Also on Sunday, France announced it would start delivering armoured vehicles to Ukraine by the end of this week, according to France24 reporting.
