Ukraine won't receive 1 million shells, but Germany will soon deliver 200,000 – Pistorius

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius once again stated that the European Union will not be able to transfer one million shells to Ukraine by the spring of 2024, but assured that "the situation will improve" during an interview with journalists of the German ZDF.

The German defense minister said that he "always knew that the figure of 1 million ammunitions was unlikely to be reached."

"This figure gave rise to expectations, which ultimately did not come true. One million is not so easy to achieve for the defense industry, which has moved on from peacetime," Pistorius said.

At the same time, he promised to improve the situation with ammunition for Ukraine in the near future.

"You can be sure that the situation will improve in the coming months. Germany alone will provide almost 200,000 shells. But everything takes time, and this is not a matter of political decisions or financial resources," the German defense chief stressed.

On October 26, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said that the European Union had supplied Ukraine with only 300,000 shells out of the promised million.

On November 1, Bloomberg reported that North Korea transferred more than a million artillery shells to Russia. These data were announced at a closed briefing for parliamentarians of the intelligence service of South Korea.

In March 2023, the European Union adopted a plan to provide Ukraine with ammunition, which provides for the purchase of 1 million shells within 12 months.

German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is making another 100,000 155 mm shells for the Armed Forces.

The head of the Estonian Military Intelligence Service, Colonel Ants Kiviselg, said that Russia's artillery shells would suffice for one year of low-intensity war.