EU to Ukraine: You’ll get half the ammo we promised by March

BRUSSELS — The European Union will only provide half of the promised 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by March, but pledged to send 1.1 million shells by year's end. 

“This is a work in progress, the whole machinery is working and member states are passing commands,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told reporters after an informal meeting of member-country defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. 

“Every day, it keeps evolving and increasing,” he said, specifying that Ukraine will get 524,000 shells by March. 

As the latest U.S. aid package for Ukraine remains blocked in Congress, the burden of helping Kyiv fend off Russia’s invasion is increasingly falling on Europe. 

At a Thursday summit, EU leaders will discuss a €50 billion package of financial assistance for Kyiv, alongside €5 billion for the European Peace Facility — an off-budget cash pot used to reimburse EU countries for weapons delivered to Ukraine. 

In an op-ed published Wednesday, leaders from five EU countries — Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Estonia and Denmark — called on Europe to commit to long-term support for Ukraine.

Overall, the EU has sent €28 billion worth of military aid to Kyiv since the war started nearly two years ago, Borrell said. “It’s not a forecast or prevision, it’s reality,” he added. EU countries also committed about €21.2 billion more for this year, the Spanish politician said, underlining the clear “acceleration.” 

POLITICO previously reported on the figures. 

According to the Kiel Institute, the United States has committed a total of €43.8 billion in military aid to Ukraine, while the United Kingdom pitched in €6.6 billion. However, those figures are not comparable to the EU’s €28 billion, as the Kiel Institute registers pledges whereas the numbers announced on Wednesday refer to actual deliveries.

‘Production capacity’

While the EU will miss its target of delivering 1 million rounds of ammunition, European officials insist the Continent now has the capacity to produce that amount. 

“We are already at this level today, in other words — we are two months ahead of schedule in our capacity to produce more ammunition in Europe, of course for Ukraine but also for our own security,” Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said on the sidelines of the defense ministers’ meeting. 

According to the commissioner from France, the EU's ammunition production capacity should hit 1.4 million rounds in 2024 before rising to 2 million rounds in 2025.

The EU’s Act in Support of Ammunition Production, also known as ASAP, has made €500 million available for countries wanting to build out manufacturing capacity. Breton said the plan was to review 82 projects with “between 20 to 30” to be picked for subsidies in the next few weeks.

After the meeting, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren told reporters: “In a year’s time we have made substantial steps, the increase in production is impressive.” 

“We still need to ramp up even more,” she added.