BRUSSELS: The European Union announced fresh plans to ramp up the large-scale production of ammunition, seeking to both benefit Ukraine while the country is at war with Russia and to improve the bloc’s geopolitical credentials.
Ukraine is poised to launch a planned spring counteroffensive to recover Russian-occupied territory, but the country has burned through ammunition at a furious rate, according to analysts. Western allies have provided ammunition, and the government in Kyiv has asked them to supply much more.
“Let’s give first, let’s deliver first, what Ukraine needs immediately. Because again, we know exactly what’s happening on the ground,” Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said.
He wants to use at least €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) to fund the Act in Support of Ammunition Production, or ASAP, with the goal of providing Ukraine with ammunition and replenishing the stocks in member countries. EU funds would provide half of the money, with the rest co-financed by member states.
European Union nations, lulled into complacency by decades of peace and military protection from the United States through NATO, have badly under-invested in ammunition production. The 27-nation block now wants to make ammunition at a record pace as war is waged on its doorstep.
Breton said the EU still has a large potential production base, especially in the bloc’s east, that could be put to use with a concerted focus.
“I am confident that we could be able to upskill our industrial base to be able to produce at least 1 million (rounds of) ammunition in Europe for Ukraine” over the next year, he said.
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