According to Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union website, defence ministers of EU member states “will first discuss the EU’s military support to Ukraine, especially the training of the Ukrainian armed forces by the EU’s assistance mission to Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine). The mission commanders will provide a status update at this session. A representative from Ukraine will also be participating”.
At this meeting, the EU expects a landmark decision to jointly procure 1 million of 155mm artillery shells for Ukraine.
“We must quickly reach a Europe-wide agreement to deliver 1 million 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine under a joint European Union procurement,” earlier this week said Minister of Defence of Estonia Hanno Pevkur.
However, it will be an informal meeting and EU leaders will probably be faced with that decision at a summit in Brussels on March 23-24.
According to unofficial media reports, most of the EU member states have agreed to a developed plan for the rapid provision of artillery ammunition to Ukraine, which provides for the latter to be delivered within a few weeks.
“Equally important is to work with our defence industry to ramp up the production of this ammunition and other equipment needed by Ukrainian forces but also to replenish our own stocks”, said President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
