The European Union claimed Tuesday that it is on schedule to provide Ukraine the 1 million shells over a 12-month period it promised in March, Politico reported.
Josep Borrell, the E.U.'s foreign affairs and security policy representative, stated that the organization had sent Kyiv 220,000 ammunition rounds and 1,300 missiles thus far, largely from existing stockpiles.
"The latest figures actually are much better than we had just some 10 days ago," Borrell said after a meeting in Brussels, further acknowledging that E.U. countries will need to begin purchasing new ammo soon.
Sources noted that the total value of the donations is roughly around $926 million, a significant jump from last week when E.U. officials reported sending around $750 million in supplies.
With the deadline for donations approaching, the union has pledged $1.08 billion towards reimbursing roughly half and earmarked another $1.08 billion for the upcoming joint ammunition purchases.
"This is normal," Borrell said of recipients ramping up as the May 31 deadline nears. "Often we see that the largest amount [of invoices] comes right at the end."
"At this rate, we'll be able to achieve our target of 1 million" rounds, he added.
But several European officials signaled skepticism in Borrell's claim that the threshold will be able to be reached, specifically the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Germany.
"That remains to be seen. That's something the producers will have to answer," cautioned German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. "That doesn't ride on whether we want to place orders and pay for them. It only depends on whether and over what time period it can be produced."
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