EU moves closer to boosting ammunition production for Ukraine

BRUSSELS — The European Union took a major step early Friday in approving plans to boost its anemic production of ammunition and missiles within the 27-nation bloc, to both defend itself and quickly help Ukraine in trying to push back the invasion by Russia.

The EU presidency announced early Friday that member states and the EU Parliament reached a deal “to urgently mobilize” half a billion euros from its budget for the Act in Support of Ammunition Production, or ASAP.

The deal follows up the decision by EU leaders in March to boost urgently needed ammunition deliveries to Ukraine, which were then sought to start a counteroffensive against Russian forces.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has steadfastly asked for more military aid, including ammunition, planes and missiles.

ASAP was part of the plan to send Ukraine 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition within the next 12 months. The EU had already approved a plan to fast-track purchasing procedures when it approved funds Friday to ramp up production in EU facilities and factories .

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“This is yet another proof of the EU’s unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine, strengthening the EU’s defense, technological and industrial base, and ultimately ensuring the long-term security and defense of EU citizens,” said Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.

The United States is expected to announce Friday that it will send thousands of cluster munitions as part of a new military aid package worth $800 million, according to people familiar with the decision who were not authorized to discuss it publicly before the official announcement and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Many European nations have moved even slower than Washington in providing military hardware, in part because for decades they hunkered under the U.S. military umbrella at the NATO alliance.

“Facing a war on European soil, we can no longer afford to neglect our defense as we have done over the last three decades. We urgently need to adapt our budgetary priorities,” said EU Parliament member Michael Gahler.

The deal must still be reapproved once more by the member states and Parliament, the Spanish presidency said, but the procedure should not provide major hiccups, and it should be finished by the end of the month.

Early in the war, the EU supported Ukraine with ammunition from its own reserves. But with the fighting so intense, it quickly became clear EU nations would have to take major steps to improve production if it did not want to be reduced to political lip service to Kyiv.

Unrelentingly, the war is grinding on: Russia fired cruise missiles Thursday at a western Ukraine city far from the front line of the war, killing at least six people in an apartment building in what officials said was the heaviest attack on civilian areas of Lviv since the Kremlin’s forces invaded the country in February 2022 .

布鲁塞尔——欧盟周五早些时候迈出了重要一步，批准了一项计划，旨在提高其27个成员国的弹药和导弹产量，以保卫自身并迅速帮助乌克兰击退俄罗斯的入侵。

欧盟轮值主席国周五早些时候宣布，成员国和欧盟议会达成协议，“紧急调动”其预算中的5亿欧元，用于《支持弹药生产法案》（ASAP）。

这项协议是在欧盟领导人3月份决定增加对乌克兰急需的弹药供应之后达成的，当时乌克兰寻求这些弹药是为了对俄罗斯军队发动反攻。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基一直坚持要求获得更多军事援助，包括弹药、飞机和导弹。

“尽快交付”计划是未来12个月内向乌克兰运送100万发炮弹的一部分。欧盟此前已批准一项加快采购程序的计划，并在周五批准拨款，以提升欧盟设施和工厂的产能。

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“这再次证明了欧盟坚定不移地支持乌克兰，加强欧盟的国防、技术和工业基础，并最终确保欧盟公民的长期安全和国防，”西班牙国防部长玛格丽塔·罗布莱斯说，西班牙目前担任欧盟轮值主席国。

据知情人士透露，美国预计将于周五宣布，将向中国提供数千枚集束弹药，作为一项价值 8 亿美元的新军事援助计划的一部分。这些知情人士在正式宣布之前未被授权公开讨论此事，因此要求匿名。

许多欧洲国家在提供军事装备方面甚至比华盛顿行动得更慢，部分原因是几十年来，它们一直躲在美国北约联盟的军事保护伞下。

“面对欧洲本土的战争，我们不能再像过去三十年那样忽视国防。我们迫切需要调整预算优先事项，”欧盟议会议员迈克尔·加勒表示。

西班牙轮值主席国表示，该协议仍需成员国和议会再次批准，但程序应该不会出现重大障碍，并应在本月底前完成。

战争初期，欧盟曾动用自身储备向乌克兰提供弹药。但随着战况愈发激烈，欧盟各国很快意识到，如果不想沦为对基辅空洞的政治支持，就必须采取重大措施来提高弹药生产能力。

战争仍在无情地持续：周四，俄罗斯向远离战争前线的乌克兰西部城市利沃夫发射巡航导弹，造成至少六人在一栋公寓楼内丧生。官员称，这是自克里姆林宫军队于 2022 年 2 月入侵乌克兰以来，利沃夫平民区遭受的最严重袭击。