The EU plan to produce 1 million shells for Ukraine may fall short.

The EU is falling behind in its pledge to deliver a million artillery shells to Ukraine by March, potentially giving Russian forces an advantage, Bloomberg writes.

At the beginning of the year, the EU promised to supply Ukraine with artillery ammunition within 12 months. Although more than half of this time has passed, the initiative’s implementation has only reached about 30%. Also, several EU member states privately appealed to the foreign policy department of the EU with a request to extend the terms of the contracts.

The Baltic countries, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland have delivered or will jointly provide about 300,000-400,000 rounds of ammunition, mainly through the EU initiative. Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway have placed orders worth €52M, but production will begin only next year.

The head of the Foreign Ministry of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, drew attention to the fact that the EU transferred only 300,000 to Ukraine, while North Korea delivered 350,000 units to Russia. According to him, the EU countries have the resources to surpass North Korea in the supply of shells.