Main image: Chairman of the European Union's Military Committee, Robert Brieger, addresses reporters after EU defence chiefs meeting, Brussels, Belgium, Thursday, May 15, 2025 EBU
The head of the European Union Military Committee, Robert Brieger, announced that the bloc plans to double deliveries of large-caliber ammunition to Ukraine this year to better arm Kyiv in its fight against Russia.
This was reported by Euronews.
These statements came after a meeting of EU defense ministers held on Thursday in Brussels.
“The goal is to deliver a 2 million rounds of heavy calibre ammunition to your country during the current year. So it's about doubling the amount of the last year,” Brieger told journalists after the meeting.
According to him, the EU is encouraging member states to produce more ammunition to reach this target.
“We try to set incentives for member states to procure more, to produce even more, using the contracts laid out by the EDA (the European Defence Agency). But also raising new initiatives, be it financial or be it via intensifying the cooperation with the Ukraine defence industry,” Brieger said.
He also spoke about potential capabilities needed to counter the maritime threat posed by Russia’s shadow fleet. The EU military chief noted that the bloc must strengthen its existing ships to effectively secure its waters and protect against any threats.
“When I look at the existing maritime operations and we have three of them, in the northwest Indian Ocean, two, and one in the Mediterranean, then we are frankly spoken lacking in resources,” Brieger said. “So when such a mission would be launched, it would be crucial that through a respective force sensing and diligent planning, we can secure in advance that we have enough ships, enough airplanes, and enough resources to carry out such a mission, should it be credible.”
