Estonia acts while EU haggles over Ukraine ammo contracts

Estonia’s Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said Thursday he had made a decision and informed the new Estonian government that the country’s Defense Ministry would send 155mm shells to Ukraine as its share of 1 million rounds promised by the EU.

Additionally, the Baltic country will provide night vision and 5.56mm ammunition for the Ukrainian army. “Will discuss more closely Estonian help to Ukraine with [Ukrainian Defense Minister] Oleksiy Reznikov tomorrow in Ramstein,” he added on the eve of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, a.k.a. Ramstein, scheduled for Friday.

The month after the EU approved a €2 billion plan to provide Ukraine with a million artillery shells from their stockpiles and new purchases has passed in debates rather than implementation. On Wednesday, France and Poland clashed as their ambassadors failed to settle a dispute over who should get the EU’s joint contracts to buy Ukraine ammunition — just local firms or also competitors elsewhere, three diplomats familiar with the situation told Politico.

The main point of contention, according to Politico, is: How much to restrict the money to EU manufacturers, and whether to include companies in places like the United States and the United Kingdom. France has been leading a charge to keep the money within the bloc, irking some of its EU compatriots.

Sweden, which currently controls the rotating EU presidency, came up with a compromise document limiting the upcoming contracts to “economic operators established in the Union and Norway” but including a line that the directive should not set a precedent.

On Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed Ukraine’s disappointment over the delay in a tweet, emphasizing that its cost for Ukraine is measured in human lives:

“The inability of the EU to implement its own decision on the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine is frustrating. This is a test of whether the EU has strategic autonomy in making new crucial security decisions. For Ukraine, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives.”

Photo: Jaanus Lensment | Delfi Meedia