EU Commissioner asserts: A million shells for Ukraine by spring

The European Union can still achieve its goal of producing a million artillery shells by this spring, which can then be sent to Ukraine,  European Commissioner for the Internal Market of the EU, Thierry Breton, announced at an event organized by the Renew Europe liberal group in the European Parliament, his statement is quoted by Politico.

"I want to tell you here today that we will keep our commitments," Breton said.

According to the official, achieving this goal will require a reduction in exports to non-EU countries and ensuring government pressure on their arms industry to increase production.

"We are just the European Commission," he noted and emphasized that it is "absolutely" possible to achieve the goal of a million shells by March or April 2024.

Breton also stated that the EU can catch up with Russia in arms production within 18 months – two years, noting that it is "extremely important" for the EU to "have the same potential".

The EU Commissioner also criticized officials for doubts about the goals of ammunition, which the bloc set for itself.

"I am not happy when I see some defense ministers who say that we will not be able to deliver weapons, this is not the information you give when there is a war on your continent," he said.

Earlier, Bloomberg wrote that Russia was able to increase its production of ammunition, and also received thousands of shells from North Korea.

In March 2023, the European Union adopted a plan to supply Ukraine with ammunition, outlining the purchase of 1 million shells within a year. In November, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, expressed doubts that the EU would likely fail to fulfill its commitment.

Around the same time, the German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, acknowledged that the EU would be unable to deliver one million artillery shells to Ukraine by the spring of 2024.

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