BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union countries finalised a scheme on Wednesday to jointly buy ammunition for Ukraine after weeks of wrangling that had frustrated leaders in Kyiv.
Ambassadors from the EU’s member countries approved the deal at a meeting in Brussels, ending a dispute over how much of the business from the munitions contracts should stay in Europe.
Sweden, current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, said the ambassadors approved the decision “to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces through 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion) for joint procurement of ammunition and missiles”.
Details of the compromise were not immediately available.
The joint procurement scheme is part of a broader EU drive to get 1 million artillery shells and missiles to Ukraine over the next 12 months, following pleas from Kyiv that it urgently needs such munitions to fight Russia’s invasion.
EU foreign ministers approved the overall plan in March but the procurement scheme could not be finalised for weeks while governments argued over eligibility rules.
EU countries had already agreed to limit the scheme to firms from the EU and from Norway, which has close economic ties to the bloc.
But diplomats said France – a champion of a stronger EU defence sector, with a substantial arms industry of its own – had insisted production itself should take place in Europe.
That stance frustrated other EU members, including eastern and Baltic countries, Germany and the Netherlands.
They expressed scepticism that European industry had the capacity to produce enough shells quickly, without at least using components from outside the EU.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed frustration last month that the deal had not yet been implemented, warning that “the cost of inaction is measured in human lives”.
($1 = 0.9065 euros)
(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
