The EU is preparing to jointly buy weapons to help Ukraine – #preparing #jointly #buy #weapons #Ukraine
MUNICH, February 18 (Reuters) – European Union It is urgently exploring ways for member countries to join forces to buy weapons to help Ukraine, after warnings from Kiev that its forces urgently need more supplies.
EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the idea of jointly buying Kiev’s much-needed 155mm artillery shells at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.
EU officials and diplomats say such an approach would be more efficient than EU members making individual orders. The larger orders will also help the industry invest in additional capacity, they said.
Saturday Europe The head of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called on EU member states to come together to deliver more ammunition to Kiev.
von der Leyen said at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of politicians: “Now to speed up production and of Ukraine it is time to expand the production of much-needed standardized products”.
“For example, we can think about advanced procurement contracts that allow the defense industry to invest more quickly in production lines now and increase the amount they can supply.”
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While no decision was expected on Monday, EU diplomats and officials said there was a strong desire to move quickly.
The EU diplomat said that the bloc is focusing on how to increase production, joint purchase of ammunition and how to pay for them.
“I think you will see some good announcements and clarifications from European institutions in the coming days. After that, the necessary technical work will be done,” the diplomat said.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy personally voiced his case for increased supplies to EU leaders at last week’s summit and Estonia’s joint purchase of EU 155mm ammunition, including shells used in artillery installations. offer After that, the discussions gained momentum.
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The joint procurement effort will aim to replenish the supplies of Kiev’s allies, which are already depleted after a year of munitions deliveries to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion.
NATOGeneral Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said that this week Ukraine uses artillery shells faster than its allies can currently produce.
According to an Estonian newspaper seen by Reuters, Ukraine forces per day 20Fires 00 to 7000 artillery shells, Russia to work 20Uses .000-60,000 artillery shells.
An EU diplomat said that at least some funding, probably from the E.U military will come from the European Peace Fund, an aid fund.
Estonia also supports Ukraine by about 3.6 billion to use a fund that confirms the euro offer did, but mostly given individually by EU members bank at the expense of assistance.
A senior EU official said the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and his diplomatic service considered Estonia’s proposal “potentially a very good idea”.
Arms trade mainly within the EU national has been under the auspices of governments.
However, the bloc’s European Defense Agency (EDA) participated in a joint procurement with five EU members in 2014 to buy ammunition for anti-tank weapons. He took the lead in purchasing another ammunition offer did
EDA Director General Jiri Sedivi said: “We want to continue supporting member states to increase their supplies to Ukraine. We have suggested to member states that we can act on their behalf for various types of procurement. ammunition”.
Diplomats and officials did not put a figure on how much the EU would spend on joint procurement. Estonian newspaper about 4 this year billion suggested that 1 million 155 mm shells can be bought for 1 euro.
Reporting by Andrew Gray, John Irish and Sabine Siebold; Written by Andrew Gray; Edited by Alex Richardson
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-02-18 16:14:04
Source – reuters
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