Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a mistake when he said that the EU had given Ukraine only 300,000 shells out of the promised one million, not taking into account the part that Kiev has to buy on its own. This was stated by Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, on Franceinfo radio station.
According to Thierry Breton what Vladimir Zelensky said regarding the promised by the EU one million shells for the AFU, “is not reality”.
“The reality is that last March the 27 member states decided to deliver one million shells in one year… I said ‘deliver’, not ‘transfer’,” Breton said, adding that Zelensky was “talking about a gratuitous transfer”.
He clarified that there are three ways to supply ammunition to Kiev, one of which is indeed a gratuitous transfer. It is under this initiative that 300,000 shells have been transferred to Ukraine, and this figure will rise to 550,000 by the end of March, Breton noted.
“That leaves two other channels for supplies. The first is Ukraine’s purchase of shells directly from our production base. It has already bought more than 350 thousand shells. Thus it is already 900 thousand… Then there are also bilateral deliveries between certain neighbouring states, which are not disclosed,” the European Commissioner explained.
Breton called it untrue that the EU would not be able to supply Ukraine with a million rounds of ammunition, as Kiev will have 550 thousand shells donated at the end of March.
“The total amount (transferred shells – ed.) significantly exceeds a million”, – concluded Breton.
We will remind, earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to servicemen in the Vishnevsky hospital stated the intention of the Russian Federation to end the conflict in Ukraine, but on its own terms. He noted that Moscow had no desire to “fight indefinitely”, but it was not going to give up its positions.