On Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, will be able to express to colleagues from the European Union Kyiv's displeasure with the disagreements that are hampering the EU's plan to purchase ammunition for Ukraine.
This was reported by the Reuters agency.
Kuleba will speak via video link at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers, which will be held in Luxembourg. Diplomats from the EU expect that Kuleba will express dissatisfaction with the non-implementation of the agreement between the countries of the European Union on the joint purchase of artillery shells.
Kuleba already said last week that the EU's failure to implement its own decision to jointly purchase ammunition for Ukraine was disappointing.
The joint procurement plan is part of a multi-pronged EU agreement to supply Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells or rockets over 12 months and to increase European ammunition production.
The first element of the agreement is the most urgent. It provides for the allocation of 1 billion euros to reimburse the expenses of EU governments for sending ammunition to Ukraine from existing stocks. EU officials say that this clause of the agreement is up and running, which is why ammunition is already arriving in Kyiv.
But the second element of the agreement, which provides for the financing of EUR 1 billion of joint EU procurement, has not yet been completed.
The countries of the European Union agreed to buy ammunition from companies from the EU and Norway, which have close economic ties with the European Union. But, according to diplomats, France insists that only companies from Europe be involved in the plan.
This position disappointed other EU members, in particular Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. They expressed skepticism that European industry is capable of quickly producing enough shells to meet Ukraine's urgent needs.
EU officials and diplomats said they expected a deal that would satisfy all parties in the coming days. Some officials had previously predicted that a deal had been reached last week, but those hopes have been dashed.
