A senior European Union official said Friday that the bloc may soon inject an additional 3.5 billion euros ($3.7 billion) into the fund used to buy weapons for Ukraine.
Under a plan drawn up by European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, EU countries will get financial incentives worth 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) to send more artillery shells to Kiev, while the bloc will allocate another 1 billion euros to fund joint purchases of new missiles.
“If we reach an agreement on this package of two billion euros, the resources of the European Peace Facility Fund will run out,” the European official said, referring to the fund used to finance the purchase of weapons for Kiev.
“It is up to member states to decide if and when they want to agree to this proposed new amount of 3.5 billion euros,” he added.
Kiev uses the missiles at a rate that exceeds the ability of its partners to manufacture them, and it also urged the European Union countries to partner together to purchase one million 155-mili rounds this year, at a cost of four billion euros, to help them confront Russian forces and launch a counterattack.
According to the EU official, one million shells would suffice Ukraine for between three and five months, “depending on the tactical situation on the ground.”
But Western stocks are about to run out after more than a year of war, and the delivery of 155mm artillery shells takes a full year from the time they are ordered, according to the official.
