Foreign Ministry sends a message to EU diplomatic chief… “We desperately need to deliver artillery shells to the front line.”
“EU needs to improve regulations and increase artillery production through contracts with defense companies”
Zelenskiy: “Discussed EU plan to ‘supply 1 million artillery shells’ with Borrell”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked the European Union’s (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, who visited his country, for help, saying that artillery shells were needed on the front line. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Borrell the EU’s promised artillery support.
According to AFP on the 7th (local time), Minister Kuleba told Representative Borrell, the head of EU diplomacy, to take urgent action, saying, “If you ask soldiers on the front lines what they need most right now, the answer will be artillery shells.”
“We expect the EU to relax regulations and sign long-term contracts with defense companies to increase artillery production,” he said. “To be honest, the scale of the war and Russia’s use of artillery has reached a level that the European defense industry cannot handle,” he said. all.
He also explained that “I thought the internal conflict was confusing” when the new support package was rejected in the U.S. Congress due to opposition from the Republican Party. He said: “Last night we received an updated report from the US on possible scenarios. Some parts of the scenario are reminiscent of thriller movies. “Everything is very confusing.”
After meeting with Representative Borrell in the capital Kiiu, President Zelensky announced on social networking service (SNS) that he had a conversation with Representative Borrell regarding the supply of 1 million artillery shells as agreed in the past.
In March last year, the EU established a plan to provide Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells a year, but was unable to achieve this due to lack of production.
“This must be fully implemented to ensure our (Ukraine and EU) common security,” he said. “I support it,” he emphasized.
In the video speech that day, he said, “Our mission this year is not only to strengthen our air defense network and long-range (attack) capabilities as much as possible, but also to inflict maximum systematic losses on Russia,” adding, “This also applies to frozen Russian assets.” This includes not only the assets of the terrorist country but also the assets of the individuals involved. “All these assets should be confiscated and used to prevent terrorism,” he argued.
Ukraine, which has a significantly short supply and inventory of artillery shells compared to Russia, is suffering from a shortage of artillery shells on the front lines. Air defense capabilities are also threatened due to a shortage of supplies.
On this day, bombings continued in the capital Kiev, the second city Kharkiv, western Lviv, and southern Mykolaiv. As a result, 5 deaths and 30 injuries occurred in Ukraine.
At the summit on the 1st, the EU agreed to provide 50 billion euros (about 71.6325 trillion won) in support to Ukraine over four years. The EU has decided to send aid across the border to Hungary, but the United States is blocked by the Republican Party, making the prospect of passing the Ukraine aid package through Congress uncertain.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.