Ukraine is frustrated by the EU’s lack of ability to secure the joint purchase of ammunition. “For our country, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives,” stressed Dmytro Kuleba.
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba considered the “inability” of the European Union (EU) to definitively approve the joint purchase of ammunition, with a view to strengthening Ukrainian military capabilities, as “frustrating”.
According to Kuleba, the EU must demonstrate its “strategic autonomy” when making “crucial” decisions in the field of security. “For Ukraine, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives,” lamented the minister on his Twitter account.
The EU has agreed a plan of 1,000 million euros for joint purchases of artillery and missiles, with the aim of replenishing the reserves of the European armies and ensure sustainable supply to Ukraine after the military invasion of Russia.
The EU’s inability to implement its own decision on the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine is frustrating. This is a test of whether the EU has strategic autonomy to make crucial new security decisions. For Ukraine, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 20, 2023
The European Mechanism for Peace is the instrument involved in this initiative, and through which the Member States have allocated 4.6 billion euros to facilitate the delivery of weapons to the Ukrainian Army.
The differences are related about who will lead the purchases -countries like Germany defend that they are the Member States themselves- and what is their origin.
One of the issues to be defined is whether joint acquisitions should be limited to material manufactured in Europe, and which would be restricted if the option fell to the European Defense Agency (DEA), because third countries do not they can participate in bids coordinated by the agency.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14.6 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.1 million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
Right now, at least 18 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian aid and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 8,534 civilian deaths and 14,370 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, emphasizing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: Observadora
