EU supplies Ukraine with 980,000 shells, approaching 1 million target – EU top diplomat

“We have almost done it. We have already delivered more than 980,000 shells, and very soon we will deliver 1 million shells. I know we committed to reaching this level by spring—and we failed. But by the end of the year, we will be able to. And we have accelerated our efforts to do so,” said the EU's chief diplomat.

He noted that a significant amount of ammunition was also delivered to Ukraine under other bilateral agreements. Some was purchased through a Czech initiative. In total, Ukraine will receive more than 1.5 million rounds of ammunition by the end of the year.

Borrell assured that the EU would be able to supply sufficient ammunition next year, with relevant production facilities already in place.

“Once we reach cruising speed, we will be able to continue supplying Ukraine with the same amount of ammunition. The problem was not in transferring what we had, but in production. When we promised to reach the level of 1 million shells by spring, we did not know what the actual production capacity was, and it was not as high as we thought. Now we have this production capacity,” said the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

During his visit to Kyiv on November 11, Borrell met with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Following the meeting, the Prime Minister said that they had discussed Ukraine's European integration and the development of joint ventures with the EU's top diplomat.

“We also discussed our continued cooperation within the framework of the European Peace Fund and the Ukraine Assistance Fund. We are grateful for the ammunition and expect to receive a total of 1 million rounds of ammunition by the end of this year. We especially appreciate the security agreement with the EU signed in June and look forward to its successful implementation,” he wrote.