In the context of the war in Ukraine, the EU's military assistance to Ukraine has been in the spotlight. However, recently EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell admitted that the EU can only deliver 52. to Ukraine by March this year40,000 shells, which is only 52% of the set target. This news has caused widespread concern, and one cannot help but ask: Will the lack of deliveries of artillery shells by the EU cause the balance of the war in Ukraine to tilt?
First of all, we need to understand the background of the EU's military assistance to Ukraine. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, the European Union has been providing military aid to Ukraine to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia's backing forces. By March this year, the European Union plans to deliver 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine to support Ukraine's defensive operations. However, due to various reasons, the EU was unable to meet the deadline for the delivery task.
The lack of deliveries of artillery shells by the EU reflects, first of all, the divisions within the EU over Ukraine. Despite the EU's support for Ukraine, the level of assistance to Ukraine across EU countries is not consistent in practice. Some countries have reservations about aiding Ukraine because they fear that excessive aid to Ukraine will lead to an escalation of tensions with Russia. To a certain extent, this disagreement has affected the effectiveness of the EU's military assistance to Ukraine.
Second, the EU's insufficient delivery of artillery shells has also exposed the shortcomings of the EU's military capabilities. Despite the fact that the EU as a whole has significant influence in global affairs, in the military sphere, the EU has limited ability to act independently. In this military aid to Ukraine, the EU has had to rely on the inventory and joint purchases of member states, which has affected the effectiveness of the aid. This phenomenon reminds the EU once again that strengthening military capacity building is a necessary condition for the EU to achieve strategic autonomy.
In addition, the lack of deliveries of artillery shells by the European Union may have a certain impact on the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine is a war of attrition, and the ** of artillery shells and other ammunition has an important impact on the direction of the war. In the case of insufficient deliveries of artillery shells from the EU, Ukraine may be constrained to a certain extent when confronting Russia's supportive forces. Still, the balance of the war in Ukraine is not completely tilted, as Ukraine has the support of other allies and is actively seeking ways to solve the shortage of ammunition itself.
Faced with the problem of insufficient deliveries of artillery shells by the EU, both Ukraine and the EU need to take effective measures. For Ukraine, in addition to continuing to seek support from the EU and other allies, it needs to strengthen its own military capacity and increase its ability to be self-sufficient in ammunition. For the EU, in addition to trying to make up for the gap in the delivery of artillery shells, it also needs to strengthen internal coordination and improve military capabilities to better maintain security and stability in Europe.
In conclusion, the lack of deliveries of artillery shells by the EU has affected the situation of the war in Ukraine to a certain extent. However, with the joint efforts of Ukraine and the European Union, there is hope that this issue will be resolved. We hope that the war in Ukraine can be resolved peacefully as soon as possible and contribute to peace and stability in the region and the world at large.