Information
On Wednesday, Josep Borrell, the European Union’s top diplomat, shared that the EU would not be able to meet its target of delivering 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine by March. Speaking after an EU defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Borrell explained that only 52% of the promised ammunition would be delivered by the deadline and the rest would be sent by the end of 2024. He acknowledged that there was some delay initially, but once things were set in motion, they could speed up.
The EU aimed to send a million rounds of artillery shells to Ukraine to support its fight against the Russian invasion. Borrell emphasized that Ukraine needed more support and urged member states to do more and act quickly. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also been calling for allies to offer more assistance to Kyiv, while US President Joe Biden is working to gain congressional approval for a spending package for Ukraine. During a meeting, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned EU officials that if Congress fails to act on Ukraine funding, Russian President Vladimir Putin will emerge victorious. She said, “We cannot allow Ukraine to run out of money before it runs out of ammunition.”
Source: DW, Politico, Reuters
Assessment
While Europe and the US have done a lot so far to support Ukraine, the EU, in particular, will likely need to continue to reform and develop its defence industry if it hopes to stop the Russian campaign in Ukraine. As sighted by many military experts, the EU is currently unable to provide enough artillery ammo that could be used to soften up Russian defences before offensive operations. So while Ukraine likely has enough ammo to defend itself currently, it is possibly slowly moving closer and closer to a stalemate that will be more difficult to fight out of. However, there is some hope on the horizon; with the addition of fighter jets and possibly more long-range missiles from Germany, Ukraine will be able to hit more key locations behind Russian lines.
Like, share, and subscribe!