UPDATES WITH COMMENTS FROM ESTONIAN PRIME MINISTER KAJA KALLAS, ADDS BACKGROUND
MUNICH (AA) - The EU should quickly increase and accelerate its military support to Ukraine, the bloc's foreign policy chief said on Sunday.
"All the European leaders here said yesterday that Russia cannot win this war, that Ukraine has to prevail," Josep Borrell told the Munich Security Conference.
Urging the leaders to "go from the words to the facts," he stressed the need to accelerate military support to Ukraine as the country is in a critical situation in terms of ammunitions supplies.
Borrell said the problem should be addressed within weeks, without waiting for the completion of new purchases, or joint European procurement programs.
"We have to use what we have, what the member states have, and they have to provide quickly a part of their ammunition, while waiting to refill their stocks," he said.
Borrell also called on EU member states to speed up the delivery of heavy arms, including battle tanks.
"Everybody knows that in order to win a war, a classical war, you need battle tanks. You will not win this war without this kind of arms," he said.
Speaking at the same panel, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said European countries should take the necessary steps to boost ammunition production.
“The Russian military industry is working in three shifts. Russia is firing in a day the monthly European production of artillery shells,” she said.
Kallas proposed EU joint ammunition purchases, in order to replenish stocks and accelerate deliveries to Ukraine.
“Ukraine must be able to defend themselves to win this war so that Russia goes back to their borders. And this is not possible without the ammunition,” she said.
The 59th Munich Security Conference ended on Sunday, after three days of events and debates focused on the war in Ukraine and Western policy toward Russia.
About 40 world leaders and 100 ministers attended the conference this year, including US Vice President Kamala Harris, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Official representatives of Russia were not invited, and organizers said they did not want “to give them a platform for their propaganda.”