Borrell: EU to deliver over one million artillery shells by year’s end
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The European Union (EU) is set to provide Ukraine with more than one million artillery shells by the end of 2024, EU High Representative/Vice-President (HR/VP) Josep Borrell said during his press briefing in Kyiv on Feb. 7.
"By the end of the year, the total number of delivered munitions will reach 1.155 million," Borrell said, adding that "Europe is waking up," so Ukraine will soon see an increase in the shells’ supply.
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The EU's defense capabilities have increased by 40% since the beginning of the year, demonstrating its unwavering support for Ukraine.
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Brussels has allocated more than $30 billion (EUR 28 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, bringing the total EU assistance to Kyiv to almost $95 billion (EUR 88 billion), according to Borrell.
Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, arrived in Kyiv, MP Oleksiy Honcharenko from the European Solidarity party said on Telegram on Feb. 6. This is his fourth visit to Ukraine during the full-scale war.
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Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed the need for Ukraine's defense industry to be integrated into the EU defense industry in a Feb. 6 speech to the European Parliament plenary on the need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine after two years of Russian aggression.
“We will have delivered over half a million rounds of artillery shells by next month,” von der Leyen said.
“More than 1 million by the end of the year.”
Read also: EU’s Borrell visits Kyiv amid Ukraine crisis, pledges support
She added that the EU must "keep up the momentum" to support Ukraine and protect its own future, stressing the importance of security commitments and strengthening the international system to avoid a repeat of the current situation.
Ukraine's military is dramatically outmatched by Russia in terms of available artillery ammunition, and this deficit is growing deeper every day, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in a letter to his EU counterparts, reported by Bloomberg on Jan. 31.
Umerov appealed to the EU to deliver the promised one million artillery shells so that Ukraine could at least match Russia's firepower.
The letter also states that Ukraine needs 200,000 155mm shells per month. Meanwhile, Moscow can receive almost twice as many munitions, with about one million shells having arrived in Russia from North Korea.
Earlier, on Jan. 31, Borrell said that by March, the EU would fulfill only 52% of its pledge to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells in one year.
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