German Defence Minister Promises to Improve Situation with Million Rounds for Ukraine

Wednesday, 6 December 2023

Federal Minister of Defence of Germany Boris Pistorius has recalled his previous statement that the EU would not be able to deliver one million rounds of artillery to Ukraine by the spring of 2024 but promised that the situation would improve.

Pistorius noted in an interview with ZDF that he had always understood that the figure of one million artillery rounds was "unlikely to be achieved".

"This figure gave rise to expectations, which ultimately did not come true. One million is not so easy to achieve for the defence industry, which has moved on from peacetime," the minister said.

At the same time, Pistorius promised to improve the situation with ammunition for Ukraine shortly.

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"You can be sure the situation will improve in the coming months. Germany alone will provide almost 200,000 rounds of artillery. But everything takes time, and this is not a matter of political decisions or financial resources," the Federal Minister of Defence of Germany emphasised.

Last month, Pistorius said the EU would miss its goal of delivering one million rounds of artillery to Ukraine by March 2024.

At the same time, the European Commission called on the EU countries to pressure the defence industry to increase the production of artillery rounds for Ukraine.

The media reports that the US is negotiating with Greece to sell a total of 75,000 artillery rounds from the Greek armed forces as part of efforts to replenish Ukrainian ammunition.

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