Seventeen EU member states and Norway have agreed to jointly procure ammunition to “aid Ukraine and replenish national stockpiles,” the European Defence Agency (EDA) said in a news release on Monday.
Earlier Monday, Estonia’s Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said that following a meeting in Brussels, European Union member states had agreed on the joint procurement of 1 million rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition for Ukraine.
“The project opens the way for EU Member States and Norway to proceed along two paths: a two-year, fast-track procedure for 155mm artillery rounds and a seven-year project to acquire multiple ammunition types,” the European Defence Agency said.
The 18 nations are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and Norway.
The EDA said this project “sends a clear message to industry and strengthens the EU’s support for Ukraine following Russia’s war of aggression,” adding that more countries have expressed intent to join the initiative.
