MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2023) Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu on Monday called on the European Union to launch a pan-European procurement scheme to supply Ukraine with ammunition through joint purchases, since Kiev was "running out of shells."
"Ukraine is running out of shells and Estonian proposal is that we should start a pan-European procurement scheme to start a systematic delivery of 155 (millimeter caliber) shells to Ukraine," Reinsalu said upon his arrival at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.
The top Estonian diplomat added that Tallinn was willing to provide Ukraine, at Kiev's request, with 1 million 155-millimeter caliber shells worth 4 billion Euros ($4.3 billion) through joint purchases.
"If we look to compare to the figures today, so this is a situation where as much as shells Russia uses daily, EU produces per month and in the current military industry capabilities we can meet the need of Ukraine around six years and this is fully unacceptable," Reinsalu said.
In this regard, the foreign minister also called for further work on the seizure on frozen Russian assets to put pressure on Moscow in the financial sphere.�
Western countries started providing Ukraine with a variety of military support, including anti-tank missiles and mines, howitzers, grenade launchers, mortars and armored vehicles, after Russia launched a military operation there in February 2022. In April, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev, saying that pumping Ukraine with weapons was not conducive to peace talks and would have a detrimental effect on the conflict.
�In January 2023, Estonia announced a record-breaking aid package to Kiev worth over 100 million euros, which included dozens of 155-millimeter caliber FH-70 and 122-millimeter caliber D-30 howitzers, thousands of 155-millimeter caliber artillery shells, and hundreds of M2 Carl Gustaf anti-tank grenade launchers with ammunition. Tallinn also pledged to continue training Ukrainian troops in the use of weapons.
