Number of countries willing to share arms for Ukraine rises

Already 20 European countries have joined the project agreement on production and purchase of ammunition for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This was announced by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during an online briefing.

As of now, 19 European Union member states and Norway have already joined the project. That is, 20 countries that will be involved in one form or another in the joint production of the 155-calibre ammunition that Ukraine desperately needs", Kuleba said.

The minister stressed that this is a "truly revolutionary step" as all these countries will work to make assistance to Ukraine with the shells strategic.

It is known that on 20 March, 17 EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden) and Norway reached an agreement to jointly produce and purchase munitions to replenish their stocks and meet Ukraine's needs. They were later joined by Spain and Poland. The implementation of the plan envisages the provision of one million pieces of artillery ammunition to Ukraine within 12 months.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with The Guardian that due to the intensity of fighting, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were forced to waste 4,000 to 7,000 artillery shells daily.

For its part, Russia is increasing military-industrial production and seeking weapons from the authoritarian regimes of Iran, North Korea and other states.