EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called on the 27-member bloc to speed up production and delivery of ammunition for Ukraine, saying that the outcome of the war with Russia could be determined by it.
"It is the most urgent issue," Borrell said on February 20 as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
"If we fail on that, the result of the war is in danger," he added, noting that Russian forces fire about 50,000 rounds a day.
"Ukraine needs to be at the same level of capacity. They have artillery, but they lack ammunition," Borrell said.
Borrell also told reporters in Brussels that he expects EU approval of a new round of sanctions against Moscow to come soon.
"It is going to be approved in the next hours, in the next hours. Before the 24th [of February] in any case," he said.
During the Munich Security Conference, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas outlined a proposed procedure for the European Union to purchase ammunition for Ukrainian defense on behalf of member states.
Under the proposal, member states would make money available to the EU, which would award large contracts to munitions producers, enabling them to ramp up production. A similar program was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate vaccine production.
“Russia uses daily [what] the European Union produces per month, and in the current military industry capabilities, we can reach the need of Ukraine [in] around six years, so this is fully unacceptable,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told reporters in Brussels on February 20 ahead of the meeting.
Borrell, who was also present in Munich, endorsed the proposal and said the bloc was “working” on the idea.
The meeting in Brussels, which is also being attended by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, is due to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as a fresh package of punitive measures against Moscow.
EU foreign ministers are also due to meet with Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu.
Borrell also said that he told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that supplying weapons to Russia would be a "red line" in the bloc's relationship with Beijing.
"He told me that they are not going to do it, that they don't plan to do it. But we will remain vigilant," Borrell said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier warned China that delivering weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine would draw “serious consequences.”
