Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the EU to take three urgent steps to increase the supply of artillery shells to Ukraine, which could significantly increase the number of shells at the front and equalize the artillery balance with Russia.
The minister said this during a joint press conference in Kyiv with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, UNN reports .
I would like to emphasize three urgent steps we expect the EU to take to increase the supply of artillery shells to Ukraine for the needs of the frontline and our soldiers. Firstly, we call on EU governments to sign long-term contracts with defense companies in order to facilitate the increase of production capacities of these companies
Kuleba noted that these companies are investing in increasing production, which will significantly speed up the supply of shells to Ukraine.
The second step is to eliminate all regulatory barriers to the interaction of European defense companies with each other and European and Ukrainian companies so that there are no administrative obstacles to increasing production
The third step is to encourage European companies and governments to negotiate with third countries to restructure and reorient existing contracts for the supply of shells from these countries to Ukraine, as well as to increase imports of ammunition from third countries to Europe.
If we act in a comprehensive manner in all three areas, the increase in the number of artillery shells at the front will be tangible. All this is within reach. At the meetings of the High Representative in Kyiv, with me, in the Government, and with the President of Ukraine, the issue of increasing the supply of shells is one of the key ones
Kuleba expressed his belief that it is quite possible to reach an agreement and redirect shells from third countries to Ukraine. He expressed his gratitude to Josep Borrell, who started talking out loud about this possibility.
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We need to enter into negotiations with those countries that have contracted shells in Europe and tell them:
Excuse me, we have the biggest war here in Europe since the Second World War, we need these shells to protect Europe
Kuleba noted that there are still a lot of artillery shells in the world. And we need to triple our efforts to bring shells to Europe from third-country warehouses.
Because today we are talking about the defense of Europe, and we need extraordinary measures. Can we equalize the artillery balance with Russia? We definitely can. If comprehensive efforts are made