European Union ministers are expected on Monday to back a two billion euro ($2.1 billion) plan to supply Ukraine with artillery shells which is to include joint EU ammunition purchases.
According to plans by EU foreign affairs Chief Josep Borrell, one billion euros is set to be used to reimburse the bloc’s member countries for the immediate delivery of ammunition from their own existing stocks to the war-torn country.
Another one billion euro was to be earmarked for long-term support for Kiev with artillery shells, for which EU countries were expected to start buying ammunition jointly in a bid to lower prices and speed up orders.
The money was to come in addition to the 3.6 billion euro in military aid the EU had provided so far.
The basic agreement, which was expected to be signed off by the bloc’s foreign affairs and defence ministers, came amid concerns that Ukraine could run short of important types of ammunition in the near future, including 155mm artillery shells.
Arms deliveries to Kiev over the past months had meanwhile, emptied stocks in EU countries.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov previously said that his country would need to be supplied with about 90,000 to 100,000 shells per month to “be ready to deter enemies” and start a counteroffensive.
EU countries had so far failed to agree on how to meet the volumes required by Ukraine in a timely manner and who was to manage joint purchases.
Some capitals were pushing to jointly finance orders from arms manufacturers based outside the European Union and Norway to speed up procurement.
According to a senior EU official ammunition orders currently take more than one year to be filled.
Ahead of discussing ammunition supplies with their defence colleagues, EU foreign affairs ministers were to discuss other developments in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was set to brief his counterparts by video-link on the current situation on the ground.
The chief diplomats were due to discuss Russia’s accountability for forcibly transferring Ukrainian children to Russia, Kiev’s conditions for peace talks and efforts to facilitate Ukrainian exports.
On Friday, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of helping to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.
A warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children’s rights, was also issued.
EU ministers were also expected to sign off on new sanctions on Iran over Tehran’s continue human rights violations against anti-government protesters.
A series of measures taken by Tunisian President Kais Saied to consolidate his power is also on Monday’s agenda.
EU foreign affairs Chief Josep Borrell is expected to brief about his meeting with leaders from Serbia and Kosovo over the weekend which made progress in normalising relations between the two countries.
