The German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had already announced in November that he believed that the European Union (EU) would not meet its ambitious targets for the supply of ammunition to Ukraine. Now the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has admitted the failure. At a press conference in Brussels on 31 January 2024, Borrell explained that only around a third of the promised 1,000,000 155 mm artillery shells had actually arrived in Ukraine.
The representative promised to exceed the target by the end of this year.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, production capacity in the ammunition sector has increased by more than 40 per cent. Borrell believes this trend will continue. By the end of 2024, he believes that production capacity will amount to 1.4 million rounds.
The EU is also holding out the prospect of further aid. The Union would like to support Ukraine with at least 21 billion euros in the coming year.
However, this figure is still provisional. Not all member states have announced the amount they intend to provide to Ukraine. The EU also remains committed to the EUMAM training mission. After almost 40,000 soldiers have been trained to date, a further 20,000 soldiers are to receive military training in Europe next year. Josep Borrell has been High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since 1 December 2019.