Ukraine considers Borrell's plan to mobilize 1,000 million euros in artillery ammunition insufficient

BRUSSELS, 8 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksi Reznikov, indicated this Wednesday that he considers the plan of the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, to mobilize 1,000 million euros in 155-mm artillery ammunition insufficient, and has asked the Twenty-seven an effort to facilitate a million artillery rounds.

"The priority is anti-aircraft defense systems, in addition to ammunition, ammunition and ammunition," said the Ukrainian Defense Minister in statements from Stockholm where the European ministers of the field are meeting to discuss the extraordinary support package of 1,000 million proposed by Borrell to deliver caliber 155 howitzers from the Member States' own arsenals, the replacement of which would be financed with said endowment through the European Mechanism for Peace.

In this sense, Reznikov has pointed out that Borrell's initiative "is not enough" and that kyiv needs a million artillery rounds, which he estimates will cost about 4,000 million euros. "We need more", he has valued, highlighting the Estonian proposal that aimed precisely at a plan for joint purchases of ammunition worth 4,000 million.

Reznikov has calculated that the country needs 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition per month to be able to repel Russian forces on Ukrainian soil and carry out a counteroffensive this spring.

Before the beginning of the discussions within the Twenty-seven on this proposal, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense has urged to speed up the process, insisting that in wartime "time is of the essence". "Time saves lives, that's why you have to go fast", he has delved into it.

For his part, the Estonian Defense Minister, Hanno Pevkur, has asked the EU to have "ambition" and focus on getting one million rounds of artillery to Ukraine, highlighting the Tallinn proposal and asking for "political consensus" from their counterparts to move forward with this initiative.

Pevkur has warned of the need to have new funds as soon as possible to promote this plan. "We cannot afford to tell Ukraine that we are not going to give it a million rounds. Once there is a political consensus, then it is the turn of Borrell and the Commission to find the best solution," he stated.

In this sense, he has warned that the EU does not have to "get entangled in bureaucratic issues" and that the bar must be set high, asking to focus on the amount of ammunition mobilized and not so much on the estimated money it will cost.