The EU has provided Ukraine with only 30% of the promised one million rounds of ammunition

The European Union has fallen behind the schedule of assistance to Ukraine, according to which the bloc's countries are supposed to supply it with one million artillery shells by March 2024. So far, Kyiv has received only 30% of the promised amount of ammunition, Bloomberg reports.

The agency's sources noted that the EU's plan could be disrupted: several countries have already privately appealed to the bloc's foreign ministry to extend the delivery time. The United States, which intends to increase its own production to one million shells a year by 2024, has called on the EU to step up its efforts.

The problem was confirmed by the head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis. He also called on the allies to speed up the transfer of ammunition.

"The EU has promised Ukraine a million artillery shells. So far, we have delivered only 300 thousand. At the same time, North Korea has delivered 350 thousand units to Russia. We definitely have the resources to outperform North Korea," he emphasized.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also expressed her concern over the supply situation.

"I am very concerned that some countries are sending signals that we cannot do this and do not even want to. <...> In fact, these are signals that we are not taking defense seriously enough," she said. Meanwhile, Russia, on the contrary, is expanding production – its military industry is "working in three shifts," Kallas added.

With Ukraine's counteroffensive making limited progress and its allies preparing for a prolonged war, the promised ammunition supplies are crucial to help Ukraine keep up with Russian production. According to some estimates, Russian factories will send 2 million shells to the troops next year.