The EU Council approved a €1 billion budget to pay EU member states for the expenses of munitions shipped to Ukraine.
The EU Council’s press service confirmed this.
The European Union Council approved the allocation of one billion euros under the European Peace Facility (EPF) to Ukraine’s Armed Forces on April 13.
Between February 9 and May 31, 2023, the EU will be able to pay member states for the costs of ammunition delivered to Ukraine from existing inventories or as a result of the reprioritization of existing purchases.
Today’s resolution implements the first element of the March 20, 2023, EU Council agreement on a three-pronged approach to accelerate the delivery and cooperative procurement of artillery ammunition.
With today’s decision, we operationalise the first part of the historic agreement reached by EU leaders to support the immediate delivery of €1 billion worth of artillery ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces. There is no better demonstration of the EU’s united resolve and determination to continue supporting Ukraine’s legitimate right of self-defence against the brutal Russian aggressor.
Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
According to Borrell, there is no more evident proof of the EU’s steadfast determination and commitment to continuing to back Ukraine’s legal right to self-defense against the cruel Russian invader.
The aid measure accepted today, along with the preceding seven tranches of support, takes the total EU contribution to Ukraine under the European Peace Facility to €4.6 billion.
The European Union Council authorized a plan on March 20 to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells over a 12-month period.
The strategy is divided into three stages. In the first step, EU member states will deliver shells from their stockpiles to Kyiv in exchange for compensation from the European Peace Fund, with a total of 1 billion euros allocated for this purpose.
This amount of money will be allocated in the second stage to sign contracts with artillery ammunition makers, after which the EU nations will enhance their own production capacity.
