PARIS: Ukraine’s defense minister warned Thursday that the country faced a “very real and pressing” ammunition shortage in its grinding near-two-year battle against Russia, as Western allies met in Paris to agree new artillery supplies. “A shortage of ammunition is a very real and pressing problem that our armed forces are facing,” Rustem Umerov posted on X after speaking by video link to the gathering led by France and the United States. “The artillery coalition is aimed at solving this issue,” he said.

Thursday’s meeting came as Russia claimed its forces had pushed Kyiv’s troops out of Vesele, a village near the hard-fought city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. AFP was unable to verify the defense ministry’s claims. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian security source told AFP that Kyiv was behind an overnight drone attack on an oil depot in northern Russia.

A 23-nation effort, the “artillery coalition” is part of the so-called Ramstein contact group, which gathers more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine. “I spoke with (French President) Emmanuel Macron to thank France for launching the artillery coalition” and for its manufacture of guns and ammunition, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.

The two leaders also discussed the “need to further strengthen Ukraine’s air defense”, he said, as it is targeted by Russian drones and missiles almost nightly. Paris on Thursday denied a Russian claim that a strike on the eastern city of Kharkiv on Tuesday had killed “French mercenaries”, saying it did not employ guns-for-hire.

New guns, more shells

Umerov told the Paris gathering that “there is no alternative to modern artillery, we have to keep up our efforts and increase munitions production”. Supply of the 155-millimetre shells used in Western guns has become a critical issue. The European Union had promised to deliver one million shells by spring this year, but European Parliament lawmakers say only 300,000 have been delivered so far.

A French Senate report published Wednesday said Paris and other European governments were “not up to the challenge” of meeting Ukraine’s ammunition requirements, calling on Kyiv’s allies to “step up a gear”.

Senate foreign affairs committee chief Cedric Perrin said Ukraine was burning through 5,000 to 8,000 shells per day, compared with up to 15,000 on the Russian side. France’s defense ministry said Wednesday that its artillery ammunition output since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine was expected to triple to a monthly rate of 3,000 this year.

France has also promised it can produce 78 new Caesar truck-mounted guns for Ukraine by early 2025, with six paid for by Kyiv to be delivered “in the coming weeks”, the defense ministry said. Paris will pay for a further 12 of the cannons at a cost of 50 million euros ($54 million), Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Thursday.

Costs for the remaining 60 guns amount to around 250 million euros, to be shared among other allies, he added. France has already sold or donated 30 truck-mounted Caesar guns to Ukraine, with a further 19 from Denmark. The Caesar can fire a 155mm shell over a distance of 40 kilometers (25 miles) before quickly changing position to avoid return fire from enemy artillery.

More missiles and bombs

Macron said he would visit Ukraine in February, the second time since Moscow invaded in 2022. Almost two years into the war, the front line has been largely fixed for months after a Ukrainian counteroffensive failed to make hoped-for territorial gains last year.

France is “in the process of finalizing an agreement” on security with Kyiv, similar to the 10-year deal signed with Britain last week, Macron added. Zelensky said he and Macron had told advisors “to expedite negotiations on the bilateral agreement” and were already discussing “items for France’s next military aid package”.

Macron’s new foreign minister Stephane Sejourne said in Ukraine on Saturday that France could work with Kyiv to “strengthen Ukraine’s capacity to produce (arms) on its own soil”. Macron on Tuesday announced further deliveries of “around 40” long-range SCALP missiles and “several hundred bombs”. Lecornu said France would provide around 50 AASM bomb guidance kits per month, which could also be adapted to be launched from Soviet-era planes used by the Ukrainian air force. — AFP