Brussels (EFE) country under the European Peace Support Fund to 4,600 million euros.
“With today’s decision, we operationalize the first part of the historic agreement reached by EU leaders to support the immediate delivery of artillery ammunition worth 1 billion euros to the Ukrainian armed forces,” stressed the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, in a statement.
Today’s decision implements the first part of the agreement reached by the EU foreign and defense ministers at their meeting on March 20 on a “three-track” plan presented by Borrell to speed up the delivery and joint acquisition of ammunition from artillery for Ukraine.
Initial Estonian proposal
The Twenty-seven gave their political go-ahead to invest 2,000 million euros in the delivery to Ukraine of 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition over 12 months.
The idea stemmed from an initial proposal by Estonia for countries to deliver as much 155 caliber ammunition as possible to Kiev as soon as possible, under the premise that they will be quickly replenished with new joint orders from the industry.
The one billion definitively approved today will be able to finance donations made “from existing stocks or from the change of priority of existing orders during the period from February 9 to May 31, 2023,” the statement said.
The other billion euros, to which the Council must still give final approval, would be allocated to joint acquisitions, according to Borrell’s plan.
And the third track of the agreement aims to boost the European military industry in the longer term.
Support Ukraine’s “legitimate right to self-defense”
Together with the seven previous aid tranches, the aid measure adopted today brings the total EU contribution to Ukraine under the European Peace Support Fund to €4.6 billion, the Council said.
“There is no better demonstration of the EU’s united resolve and determination to continue to support Ukraine’s legitimate right to self-defense against the brutal Russian aggressor,” the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU.
The European Fund for Peace was created in 2021 to support partners around the world in the military and defense areas, with the ultimate goal of preventing conflicts, preserving peace and strengthening international security and stability.
Ukrainian forces are virtually blocked in the Donetsk region city of Bakhmut, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine, according to Donetsk interim leader Yan Gaguin’s adviser.