According to the German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, the EU’s goal to supply Ukraine with 1m rounds of ammunition by next March will not be reached.
The target was set in response to Ukraine’s urgent need for 155mm artillery shells.
The EU agreed earlier this year on a three-pronged approach to boost supplies as it emerged that Ukraine was burning through ammunition faster than the U.S and NATO could produce.
Diplomats and officials have been expressing scepticism privately for months about the goal.
“I didn’t promise 1 million rounds, and that was on purpose. The right question to be asked would be whether 1 million was ever a realistic goal,” Pistorius told reporters upon arrival at the EU defence ministers summit.
“There were voices that warned: ‘You better watch out, 1 million is easily said, the money is available, (but) the production must be there’. These warning voices have been proven right now, unfortunately.”
Boris Pistorius
“It is safe to assume that the 1m rounds will not be reached,” he added.
EU’s Foreign and Security Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, said as he arrived at the summit that the bloc had provided more than 300,000 artillery shells and missiles under the first track of the scheme, which involved EU member states delivering from their own stockpiles.
He said the focus was now on the second element of the scheme, in which EU countries order new shells from industry under a joint procurement initiative.
Borell suggested that an immediate issue was the export commitments of EU defence manufacturers outside the bloc.
He noted that one of the issues was 40% of the EU’s shells were exported outside the bloc.
Borrell said that one way of doing a better job would be for defense firms to focus on sending more ammunition to Ukraine and exporting less to other countries.
“Keep in mind European defense industry is exporting a lot — about 40 percent of the production is being exported to third countries,” Borrell told reporters.
“So it’s not a lack of production capacity; it is that they send their products to [other] markets. So maybe what we have to do is to try to shift this production to the priority one, which is the Ukrainians.
“It’s a matter of providing another market which could be more interesting for them.”
Josep Borrell
EU Industry Commissioner Says Target Would Be Met
Meanwhile, Thierry Breton, the EU’s Industry Commissioner, insisted that the target of producing 1m pieces of ammunition for Ukraine would be met.
He told reporters on arrival at a defence ministers’ summit in Brussels that the figure included missiles.
“This target will be met,” he said, adding that ministers would be discussing how to increase production.
His comments came shortly after the German defence minister had said the target would not be met.
He said, “I have proposed to all the defence ministers that we should reflect together, I would say, on laying the foundations for a new European defence strategy to increase our capabilities together.”
Breton disclosed, “We are currently discussing this so that I can present the results of these negotiations and discussions in the first quarter of next year.”
“I’m responsible for ammunition production capacity so I can confirm that the target of producing more than a million rounds of ammunition a year, which we set ourselves and which they hope to achieve from spring onwards, will be met.
“Now it’s up to the Member States to place the orders. This is not in the hands of the Commission, of course.”
Thierry Breton
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