EU urges members to offer stockpiles, contracts to Ukraine
The European Union is urging member countries to provide more ammunition to Ukraine from their stockpiles and from orders they might have already placed with the defense industry
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Tuesday urged its member countries to provide more ammunition to Ukraine from their stockpiles and from any orders that they might have already placed with the defense industry to help defeat invading Russian forces.
According to some estimates, Ukraine is firing up to 6,000-7,000 artillery shells daily — about the same amount that a small European country orders in a peace-time year — but this is only around a third of the number of rounds that Russia is using, one year into the war.
“We have to act with a sense of urgency,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Borrell said that he had written to the bloc’s 27 defense ministers urging them to “give Ukraine priority” when it comes to weapons and ammunition.
“What we have to do is measured in weeks, not in months,” he added.
