Cyprus, France and Greece have allegedly expressed their opposition to allowing EU money to be used to buy non-EU produced shells as an emergency measure to help Ukraine, Politico reported on Friday citing diplomatic sources.
The discussions took place at a meeting of the Political and Security Committee in Munich earlier this week.
The European Union is failing to fulfil its commitment to supply one million rounds of ammunition to the Ukrainian army by March 2024.
Therefore, European leaders have discussed the possibility of purchasing ammunition outside the bloc.
Politico said that a small group of countries led by France is blocking attempts to use EU money to buy arms from abroad.
The reason is that European arms manufacturers need orders to justify ramping up their production, it added.
France has stressed the need to beef up the continent’s arms industry. The French government said it plans to increase its domestic military spending by more than 100 billion in the coming years.
Europe has overtaken the U.S. in overall financial support for Ukraine, with a €50 billion package agreed earlier this month.
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