Perhaps part of the shells for Ukraine will be purchased from the United States and South Korea.
The European Union is considering buying artillery shells from the United States and South Korea, as they are not sure that they can quickly increase the production of ammunition. This was written on March 17 by Euractiv.
For example, negotiations are now underway to reach a political agreement on joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine, as EU ambassadors seek to remove the last obstacles before the expected approval next week. So far, the bloc’s envoys have failed to reach consensus on the details of the plan presented by the Foreign Service in early March.
The EU’s proposed three-pronged plan aims to provide financial support to Member States to ship ammunition from existing stocks to Ukraine, increase production of 155mm ammunition, and build up the bloc’s overall industrial capacity.
EU defense ministers reached an agreement in principle last week to use 2 billion euros from the European Peace Fund (EPF), an EU extrabudgetary fund, to fund the first two tracks.
While the 27 EU countries appear to have reached an agreement that €1bn will be used to ship shells from existing but largely depleted stocks, discussions remain on how to use the remaining €1bn. referring to EU diplomats.
The EU has identified 15 enterprises in 11 EU member states for the production of 155-mm artillery ammunition according to NATO standards and 5 manufacturers of 152-mm Soviet-style ammunition.
However, some member states want to be allowed to purchase ammunition from outside the EU for Ukraine if Europe cannot quickly produce it domestically.
“We don’t know if the European industry will be able to produce products in accordance with the needs. If it is not able to do it quickly and in large volumes, we should be allowed to turn to third countries,” one of the EU diplomats told the publication.
Potential non-European suppliers may include the United States and South Korea.
Recall, March 15, it was reported that the European Union is finalizing a deal worth 2 billion euros for the joint replenishment of Ukraine’s declining stocks of ammunition, as well as replenishment of stocks of European countries.
Earlier, on March 14, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said that Ukrainian soldiers will face a tough fight against Russian invaders this spring and summer.
