Ukraine urges NATO cooperation for weapons amid EU ammo delivery delay

Ukraine has so far only received 300,000 out of the promised 1 million artillery shells from the European Union, according to Dmytro Kuleba, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, during a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. It's now clear that the originally set deadline won't be met.

As Reuters agency reported, Kuleba has called for better cooperation between Ukraine and NATO countries' defense industries in order to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs to resist Russian aggression. "We need to establish a common Euro-Atlantic defense industry sector," stated the minister.

In March of this year, the European Union pledged to deliver 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine within a year. However, by the end of October, the Bloomberg agency reported that Kiev had only received approximately 300,000 shells so far. In November, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that the plan to deliver 1 million artillery shells by spring 2024 would fail due to limited production capacities.

A shortage of 155mm caliber shells—the standard NATO ammunition—has been increasingly felt in Ukraine, causing concern as it is a significant part of the aid also coming from the EU. This ammunition is used in a variety of weapons provided to Kiev as part of Western support, including highly-valued equipment such as the Polish Krab howitzers (which permit targets up to approximately 25 miles away to be hit with 155mm ammo), as well as the German PzH 2000s, French CAESARs, and Slovak Zuzana 2s.

122mm and 152mm caliber shells, which are used in Soviet-era equipment that still makes up a significant portion of the Ukrainian military's arsenal, are equally important. Only a few countries in Europe, mainly Bulgaria and Slovakia within the EU are still producing them. However, Slovakia's new government is stepping back from offering Kiev free deliveries and aims to limit its involvement to commercial contracts only.

Kuleba reported that he had a "fruitful" meeting with Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar on Tuesday, November 28. Kuleba added, "we had a perfect mutual understanding."

Kuleba, quoted by the Ukrinform agency, stated that Blanar had confirmed that a repair hub for heavy Ukrainian military equipment would continue operating in Slovakia, and contracts between Ukrainian and Slovak arms companies would be extended. "I see no risk in this area," announced Kuleba.