Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis took to X with a sobering remark: “The EU promised Ukraine 1,000,000 artillery rounds. So far, we have delivered only 300,000. Meanwhile, North Korea delivered 350,000 to Russia. We surely have the resources to outperform North Korea. We should stop being frozen in the headlights while brave Ukrainians die.”
Ukraine’s Strategic Industries Minister, Oleksandr Kamyshyn, has noted that despite increasing its production of artillery ammunition, Kyiv still relies heavily on shell supplies from partners. The country is also boosting its production of combat drones, aiming to manufacture thousands a month by the year-end. NATO’s Chairman, Admiral Robert Bauer, has urged member states to curb protectionism and agree on a standard for artillery ammunition to increase production. The EU has been falling behind on plans to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells by March 2024. In March 2023, the European Union approved a two-billion-euro plan to provide Ukraine with ammunition, including the purchase of 1 million shells by the end of the year. In June, the European Parliament adopted the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), a legislative proposal from the European Commission that increases the ability of the EU defence industry to supply ground-to-ground ammunition, artillery shells, and missiles. In September, seven EU countries ordered ammunition under a landmark EU procurement scheme to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted Western stocks.
