EU to top up fund for Ukraine arms purchases by €3.5 bln

The European Union (EU) could soon top up the fund used for purchasing weapons for Ukraine by 3.5 billion euros ($3.7 billion), a senior EU official said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Under a plan drawn up by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, EU countries would get financial incentives worth 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) to send more of their artillery rounds to Kyiv while another 1 billion euros would fund joint procurement of new shells.

“If there is a deal on this 2-billion-euro package, resources under the EPF will be exhausted,” the EU official said, referring to the European Peace Facility (EPF) used to fund arms for Kyiv.

“It’s up to the member states to decide if and when they want to operationalize this new possible 3.5 billion euros top up,” he added.

Kyiv has urged the EU to club together to buy 1 million 155-millimetre shells this year at a cost of 4 billion euros to help fight Russia and launch a counteroffensive.

One million rounds should have Ukraine covered for three to five months, “depending on the tactical situation on the ground,” the EU official estimated.

But Western stocks are depleted more than one year into the war, and 155mm artillery shells have a lead time of one year from Ukraine’s order to delivery, according to the official.