At a meeting on 20 March, EU foreign and defence ministers are expected to reach an agreement on military assistance to Ukraine, EU High Representative Josep Borrell has said in a statement, his press service reports.
Borrell recalled his proposal based on three tracks to be discussed at the meeting.
1. Ensure the immediate delivery of more artillery ammunition, notably 155 mm, to the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of existing member states' stocks, or from pending orders.
2. Aggregate demand in Europe and fast-track the procurement of 155 mm ammunition to backfill member states’ stocks and ensure long-term support to Ukraine. By procuring jointly, we will be able to reduce unit prices and delivery time.
3. Support the rapid ramping-up of manufacturing capabilities of European defence industry. To meet the massive demand to replenish stocks – both for Ukraine and for EU member states -, the European defence industry needs support to produce more and reduce production time.
To become mutually reinforcing, these three tracks need to proceed in parallel: EU member states will be more likely to agree to support Ukraine from their existing stocks if they receive the guarantee that they can replenish them; and they will only be able to do so if our European defence industry scale up its capacity to deliver.