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printer and is supplying them to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Also, on November 21 German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv on an unofficial visit. He announced a new €1.3B aid package, including four IRIS-T systems, 20,000 155 mm rounds, anti-tank mines, and more. Germany also plans to supply Ukraine with another 140,000 155-mm shells.
Artillery munition deliveries to Ukraine have decreased since Israel-Hamas War. The delivery of artillery shells to Ukraine from Western allies has decreased since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Nov. 16. "This is life. I'm not saying that this is positive, but this is life, and we have to defend what's ours." he said. "Let’s be frank: the crisis in the Middle East is already having a lasting impact on our policy in Ukraine," said Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, in a speech on Nov. 6.
Pentagon denies claim that shell deliveries dropped 30%. "Look, I would push back on that assertion," U.S. Defense Department Spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Cluster munitions proving exceptionally effective in battle — Ukrainian officer. Cluster munitions used by Ukrainian forces are remarkably effective against enemy troops, Deputy Commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade, Maksym Zhorin, said in an interview with NV Radio on November 15.
The European Union’s arms supply to Ukraine has reached 27bn euros, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said upon his arrival at the Council meeting. This is a record high figure in the EU's history, Borrell said, noting that the EU countries continue training Ukrainian forces. This figure includes arms transfers from the EU via the European Peace Facility and direct transfers from individual EU states.
EU unlikely to deliver 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine by March 2024. The EU believes it is unlikely to deliver all of the pledged 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine by the March 2024 target, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 10, citing undisclosed sources.
Borrell denies the failure of the EU’s plan for a million shells supplied to Ukraine and calls on manufacturers to reorient exports. The EU has not given up on the goal of supplying Ukraine with one million rounds of artillery ammunition by March 2024, said the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell. The EU completed the first part of the plan, taking stock from its arsenals and supplying approximately 300,000 shells to Kyiv. Now, it's all about production. Borrell assumes that the EU will not have enough time to transfer another 700,000 shells to Ukraine. Instead, he says that EU ammunition manufacturers can revise their export plans to help Ukraine. Currently, 40% of EU products are exported to third countries. "There is no shortage of capacity. The problem is that they send their products to other markets," he added. The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, suggested that the EU would not have time to fulfill its promise. According to Kuleba, the obstacle to fulfilling the promise is the deplorable state of the defense industry and warehouses, bureaucracy, and many "non-synchronized things". German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius holds a similar position.
German government plans to provide 8 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine in 2024. While four billion euros ($4.3 billion) was the amount initially
35 UKRAINE Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com