EU to Deliver Half a Million Shells to Ukraine by End of March

By the end of March, the amount of ammunition supplied to Ukraine by the EU will reach approximately 500,000. This was stated by European Commission Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano during a briefing in Brussels on Tuesday, 19 March. 

"The targets remain unchanged, this year we will deliver 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine. According to the cut-off that we are counting, it will be about half a million by the end of March," Stano said.

The spokesman also noted: "Yes, by the end of this month, we have not delivered a million rounds of ammunition. But Ukraine will receive more than a million, based on the existing capacities and orders placed."

Last March, the EU Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministers agreed on an ammunition procurement plan to supply Ukraine with one million rounds.

Following this, EU leaders approved a joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine and agreed to supply missiles if needed.

In turn, Ukroboronprom presented the first product of joint production with a NATO country - 120-mm mortar shells. They have already been delivered to the frontline for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In the autumn of 2023, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba suggested that the European Union might not be able to fulfil the plan to supply Ukraine with one million shells due to the poor state of the EU's military industry.

In January 2024, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton said that the EU could still meet its goal of producing 1 million artillery rounds by spring 2024, which would then be shipped to Ukraine.

However, on 1 February, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen informed that the EU would deliver 520,000 shells to Ukraine by March.