Czech Republic proposes to buy 450 thousand shells for Ukraine outside EU - mass media

Europe is failing to fulfill its promise to send 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine by March, and Czechs say it's time to look outside the EU for supplies, reports UNN citing Politico.  

The EU initially promised to deliver 1 million shells by March, with France leading calls for Europe to build up its own industrial capacity to deliver ammunition to Kiev. However, the EU now says 524,000 shells will be delivered to Ukraine by the March deadline, with only 1.1 million promised by the end of the year.

Frustrated by the shortfall, Prague is pushing EU countries to finance the purchase of an estimated 450,000 rounds of artillery available outside the bloc, four diplomats and a person familiar with the talks told POLITICO.

When the EU was clarifying its military aid commitments in early 2023, France - the bloc's defense industry leader - sought to ensure that subsidies were focused only on local production and not sent abroad.

But the Czech Republic's call raises the possibility that Europe will instead turn to arms companies in South Korea, Turkey and South Africa. The official said EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell specifically mentioned that Korea, a major arms producer, could be called upon for additional shells.

One diplomat said the 450,000 figure was announced during an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala then told his counterparts during a summit of EU leaders on Thursday that the shells could come from outside the EU to help the bloc fulfill its promises, according to another official briefed on the talks.

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The publication notes, the EU is not the only ally that cannot deliver results. The political stalemate in Washington has also stopped the flow of US weapons to Ukraine.

During a visit to Washington on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told an audience at the Republican Heritage Foundation that more ammunition is critical to Ukraine's success on the battlefield.

"The war in Ukraine is increasingly becoming a war of attrition," he said. "And the war of attrition is becoming a war of logistics. It's about the production of weapons, ammunition ... necessary to sustain the war effort. And it demonstrates the need to produce ammunition, because so far we are basically developing our reserves to supply Ukraine. This cannot continue, it is unsustainable.

Ukrainian forces on the front lines warnthat they are woefully short of ammunition to fight the Russian invaders in a war dominated by artillery fire.