Borrell pointed to Kiev's delivery of 1 million shells 8.5 months late

The European Union (EU) has fulfilled its promise to provide Ukraine with 1m units of ammunition eight months late. This was reported on 18 November by the retiring head of the EU diplomatic service, Josep Borrell, whose commentary was published on the official website of the EU foreign policy service.

Back on March 20, 2023, the EU approved a plan to transfer 1 million artillery shells to Kiev within 12 months. Later, in November 2023, the head of the European Council Charles Michel said that the EU would not be able to fulfill its promises by March 2024. Then he specified that it would take additional several months to achieve such a volume. In March this year, military expert Andrei Koshkin in a conversation with Izvestia pointed out that the EU does not have the capacity to produce shells for Kiev, not even 500,000 of the previously promised 1 million ammunition.

"The European Union has provided Ukraine with an unprecedented amount of military aid. To date, we have provided €45 billion worth of arms. <...> We have also just fulfilled our promise to provide Ukraine with 1 million pieces of ammunition, and we will train 75,000 Ukrainian soldiers by the end of winter. The EU and its member states are major supporters of Ukraine and our aid is growing," Borrell said.

However, he noted that the aid provided to Kiev is not enough to make the situation on the battlefield on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). He also called for more aid.

"Ukraine urgently needs more air defense, more ammunition and more long-range weapons. And it needs permission to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory. The latest news from the U.S. in this regard is very encouraging," Borrel concluded.

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Earlier in the day, Borrel also added that discussions in the European Union can last for weeks or even months before concrete steps are taken. According to him, this also hinders the association's emergence as a geopolitical player. Speaking on the same topic, he pointed out that arms deliveries to the AFU are constantly late due to lengthy discussions. In this regard, he demanded that after his departure, Europe "stop arguing and start supplying weapons to Ukraine faster."

On December 1, Borrell's term as EU diplomacy chief will expire, and he will be replaced by former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. On November 1, she started working as the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.

On Nov. 13, Borrell called on the EU to step up support for Ukraine after Republican Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022. The decision to conduct it was made by the Russian president due to the aggravation of the situation in the region due to the increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.