The purchase of artillery shells for Ukraine outside the European Economic Area cannot be ruled out.
This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Estonia, Hanno Pevkur, Postimees reports.
Against the background of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, one of the initiatives proposed by Estonia was to revive the defense industry of the European Union.
However, as the Minister of Defense of Estonia notes, the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine outside the European Economic Area cannot be made impossible for the sake of speed.
"The European Commission should discuss with all manufacturers the capabilities of the countries of the bloc and their enterprises. The initial goal was to support and strengthen the capabilities of European manufacturers. But, in principle, if European manufacturers say that they will not have time to produce shells in a year, then since Ukraine needs a million shells, we should not rule out purchasing outside of Europe as well," Pevkur said.
It will be recalled that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia stated that the North Atlantic Alliance needs to significantly increase its defense spending in order to prevent the threat from Russia. Annual expenses should be up to 2.5% of GDP.
