EU envoys don’t agree on making munitions for Ukraine – Politico
Two weeks after the European Union announced a deal to supply Ukraine with a large amount of ammunition, the bloc has had to face a legal snag over who will receive the money.
This was reported by Politico, citing diplomatic sources.
These disagreements have stalled the first-of-its-kind plan to jointly purchase ammunition for Ukraine.
The issue of whether these contracts will be signed exclusively with EU companies (and how to legally define them) or whether they will be open to non-EU producers remains a point of contention among EU ambassadors who met for discussions on April 5.
According to several diplomats, France insists that the money remain in the EU. Greece and Cyprus are supporting Paris, which some diplomats say is due to their desire to avoid contracting with Turkish factories.
The EU joint procurement agreement was rushed through and approved on March 20 in recent weeks amid fears that Kyiv was running out of shells.
Earlier, French Defense Minister Sébastien Le Coronneu said that France would double the supply of 155mm artillery ammunition to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
