Politico: EU nears deal to restock Ukraine’s diminishing ammo supplies

Politico: EU nears deal to restock Ukraine’s diminishing ammo supplies
# 15 March 2023 11:29 (UTC +04:00)

The EU is finalizing a €2 billion deal to jointly restock Ukraine’s dwindling ammunition supplies while refilling countries’ stocks, APA reports citing Politico.

The plan has two major elements.

First, the EU will spend €1 billion to partially reimburse countries that can immediately donate ammunition from their own stockpiles. Secondly, countries will work together to jointly purchase €1 billion in new ammunition — the idea being that together they can negotiate bigger contracts at a lower price-per-shell.

Covering that figure will not come easy — or cheap.

Thus far, EU countries have only provided Ukraine with 350,000 155-millimeter shells in total, with the EU spending €450 million on partial reimbursements, said one EU official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic. But the official pegged the cost for each new shell at €4,000, meaning costs are growing.

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