EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned at the Munich security conference that the war could be decided against Ukraine within weeks if the EU does not decide in time to supply ammunition to Ukraine. That writes The Guardian.
He made those statements on the last day of the security conference. Borrell sees the EU defense summit on March 8 and 9 as an opportunity for European countries to offer ammunition from their reserves to Ukraine. He also emphasized that it takes more than ten months for European countries to order and actually receive ammunition.
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“We are in urgent war mode,” Borrell said. “This ammunition shortage must be solved very quickly, otherwise it will be a matter of weeks.”
Peace Fund
Borrell is also considering using the existing €3.6 billion European peace fund for munitions production, following Finnish Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in her idea. He will reportedly present the plan to the European foreign ministers next Monday.
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“The Estonian idea works in the medium term,” Borrell said of the plan. He believes that the urgency of the shortages is such that EU countries must draw on existing reserves. ‘We have to use what the Member States have available. Much more can be done much more quickly, and it must be done. We need to increase and accelerate our military support. It takes almost 10 months to buy a 155mm bullet, and almost three years to buy a surface-to-air missile. That is not the way it should be in a war situation like this.’
