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EU Ministers Meet, Urging More Ammo For Ukraine

Emergency personnel work to put out a fire following a drone attack in Kharkiv in a video released on January 31.

Defense ministers from the European Union's 27 member states have opened an informal meeting in Brussels to discuss the need to beef up the bloc's defense industry and its military support to Ukraine, which has pleaded for months for military supplies in its war to repel invading Russian forces.

Ahead of the January 31 meeting, which comes a day before a crucial EU summit that will discuss the bloc's aid for Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Kyiv needs more ammunition to replenish its dwindling stocks as Russia's full-scale invasion nears its second anniversary.

Russia's artillery has been pounding Ukrainian military positions and civilian settlements alike for months, opening a constant flow of victims among civilians and material destruction as Ukrainian defenders are forced to economize their artillery shells in the absence of new deliveries.

"We have to show that our clear commitment with Ukraine remains and continues," Borrell said, adding that it is important to clarify the situation and "know where we are now, where we will be by March, and by the end of the year."

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Ukraine's efforts to transition from Soviet-era to Western-made heavy weapons have faced an obstacle in the shortage of ammunition for the equipment donated by its allies.

To deal with the shell shortage, Brussels pledged to deliver 1 million shells by spring, but so far only some 300,000 have been delivered to the Ukrainian military.

Earlier this month, representatives from 23 countries gathered in Paris to launch an "artillery coalition" for Ukraine, a U.S- and France-led initiative under the umbrella of the so-called Ramstein Contact Group that consists of more than 50 allies of Ukraine.

On that occasion, Paris pledged six more Caesars, the flagship howitzer of French artillery that can strike targets at more than 40 kilometers distance, saying they will be delivered in the following weeks.

On January 30, Politico, citing multiple sources, wrote that Ukraine may receive a new U.S. long-range precision bomb this week. The brand new weapon, made by Boeing, can travel about 145 kilometers and carries a 113-kilogram bomb, the news outlet reported.

The Biden administration last year approved the weapon's transfer to Ukraine but it first had to be tested in the United States.

However, Ukrainian forces are rapidly running out of ammo and arms stocks, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to call on Kyiv's allies to step up weapons deliveries.

Ahead of the January 31 EU summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz joined four other European prime ministers in urging the bloc's members to boost efforts to provide more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine.

Scholz, Denmark's Mette Frederiksen, the Czech Republic's Petr Fiala, Estonia's Kaja Kallas, and the Netherlands' Mark Rutte admitted in a letter published in the Financial Times that the bloc had "fallen short" of the million-shell pledge.

"We must renew our resolve and redouble our efforts in order to ensure that we sustain our support for as long as it takes," the four leaders urged.

In Kyiv, U.S. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian officials and representatives of the civil society, U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink said on January 31.

"Today we will meet government leaders, veterans, and civil society to underscore our shared commitment to defeating Russian aggression in Ukraine," Brink wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Meanwhile, air defenses shot down 14 out of the 20 drones that Russia's military launched at targets inside Ukraine early on January 31, Kyiv said.

The drones were shot down in the Mykolayiv, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, and Kharkiv regions, the Ukrainian military said in a statement.

At least four people -- three men and a woman -- were wounded and infrastructure was damaged in a drone strike on the eastern region of Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said.

On January 30, at least three people were killed across Ukraine in Russian drone and missile strikes.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Politico