The European Union said Friday it will ramp up its production of ammunition in response to Ukrainian calls for support as its war against Russia closes in on the two-year mark.
By the end of the year, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said, the EU will be able to produce at least 1.3 million rounds of ammunition.
“We are at a crucial moment for our collective security in Europe, and in the war of aggression run by Russia in Ukraine, Europe must and will continue to support Ukraine with all its means,” Breton told reporters during a visit to Estonia.
The announcement comes as NATO prepares for military exercises that begin next week, amid concerns that the war in Ukraine could tumble over into other European countries.
“We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day — most recently again against our friends in the Baltic states,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Friday in the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Next week NATO will mount its largest series of military exercises since the end of the Cold War. The Steadfast Defender 2024 will involve about 90,000 troops from all 31 NATO members and Sweden in the war games rehearsal that runs through May.
“We have to realize it’s not a given that we are in peace,” said Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, the NATO military committee chief, earlier this week in Brussels during a meeting of military chiefs. “Expect the unexpected.”
Elsewhere Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Russia has surrounded the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant with landmines.
The agency said in a statement that the mines that had been removed in November “are now back in place,” a development it said is “inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards.”
Russia, which has been in control of the site since 2022, is also refusing to allow IAEA experts access to some areas of the plant.
“Such access is needed to monitor nuclear safety and security,” the statement said.
Some material for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.