Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren has announced allocating 260 million euros ($279 million) to jointly purchase ammunition for Ukraine with EU member states.
The funds will contribute to the second phase of a European Union’s plan to provide Ukraine with one million 155-mm-caliber artillery rounds.
The EU agreed to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells on March 20. In the first phase, the bloc dedicated one billion euros to reimburse countries that could send their stockpiles right away. Another billion will be used for the joint purchase of new rounds, and the final part of the program will be the production of the remaining artillery rounds.
In April, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the EU had delivered more than 66% of the first tranche since Feb. 9.
The reimbursing measure applies to existing ammunition stocks of the program's participants "or from the reprioritization of existing orders" between Feb. 9 and May 31, 2023.
According to Borrell, the EU has already provided over 13 billion euros in military support to Ukraine.
Asami Terajima
