The European Union (EU) is currently short of about 300,000 artillery shells compared to the target of 2 million military aid commitments to Ukraine, according to a statement by Ms. Kaja Kallas - senior EU foreign policy representative on October 20.
Kallas called on member states to continue providing military and financial support, stressing that despite many commitments, hundreds of thousands of bullets have not yet been delivered.
According to her, there are currently 1 million "ready" shells through an initiative led by the Czech Republic, deployed to supplement supply.
However, the initiative has sparked controversy since the results of recent investigations published by many international news agencies showed that some Czech companies have shown signs of collecting commissions four times higher than what Ukrainian defense agencies typically pay when they buy ammunition themselves.
Some of these shipments were also delayed or of poor quality, affecting Kiev's plans to strengthen its defense lines.
Kallas said the EU needs to urgently reallocate funds or take other measures to make up for the shortfall.
A commitment of 2 million bullets comes from Ms. Kallas' own initiative in March, initially planning a military aid package worth 40 billion euros ($407 billion), then cut to 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) due to opposition from some member countries, although the delivery of bullets is still considered the focus.
Russia has repeatedly criticized the Western weapons supply to Ukraine, saying it is only prolonging the conflict without changing the outcome, while increasing the risk of direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
