One million shells from the EU: the promise will be fully delivered by the end of the year.

This was stated by President Vladimir Zelensky following a meeting with the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

Earlier, Borrell mentioned in an interview with "European Truth" that this year the EU has sent Ukraine over 980,000 shells out of the pledged one million.

“I know we committed to achieving this level by spring and we were unable to do so. But by the end of the year, we will be able to. And for this, we have significantly accelerated,” the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs assured.

Additionally, according to him, Ukraine has received ammunition through bilateral agreements with EU member states, as well as through the Czech initiative.

Borrell noted that by the end of the year, the total number of shells transferred to Ukraine will reach 1.5 million.

As the head of European diplomacy suggested, if manufacturers manage to reach “cruising speed,” partners could provide Ukraine with another 1 million shells by 2025.

More on shells for Ukraine

According to the Ministry of Strategic Industries, Ukraine requires a quantity of artillery ammunition that no single country can provide, not even the United States. However, several initiatives are currently in place to supply shells from Ukraine's international partners.

Thus, according to plans developed in early 2023, the EU promised to supply Ukraine with a million artillery shells within 12 months. However, the implementation of the initiative has faced challenges. According to former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, among the reasons are the “pitiful state of the EU’s defense industry.”

In February, the Czech Republic announced that it had found sources for supplying hundreds of thousands of shells for Ukraine from abroad. Among the discovered munitions are 500,000 shells of 155 mm caliber and another 300,000 shells of 122 mm caliber. These stocks were found in an unnamed country outside the EU.

Subsequently, as part of the project, Prague found more than a million munitions.