STORY: EU cannot deliver 1 mln shells to Ukraine by March: Borrell
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 31, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 1, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:58
LOCATION: Brussels
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the European Commission Berlaymont building
2. various of the Egmont Palace
3. various of informal meeting of defense ministers
4. various of Josep Borrell's speech

STORYLINE:

The European Union (EU) would miss the target to deliver one million rounds of artillery shells to Ukraine by March, Josep Borrell, high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told a press conference on Wednesday.
   
After the informal meeting of EU defense ministers, Borrell said by "destocking, and individual and joint procurement," the EU would only be able to deliver 524,000 shells, or about 52 percent of the objective, by March.
   
However, he said as production capacity increases, the EU would be able to deliver to Ukraine more than 1 million rounds by the end of this year.
   
Last year, EU member states pledged to supply Ukraine with 1 million 155-millimeter shells by March 2024 as its conflict with Russia drags on.
   
Borrell said that the EU's production capacity has increased by 40 percent since Russia's special military operation against Ukraine in February 2022, and it would reach 1.4 million by the end of 2024.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Brussels.
(XHTV)