About 2 million artillery shells will be produced in the EU countries in 2025, the newly appointed European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius said in a commentary to Hromadske.

Responding to a question about whether Europe has enough production capacity to increase military aid to Ukraine, the official noted that only 20-25% of weapons are produced in the EU countries, while the rest are purchased abroad. According to Kubilius, increasing the EU's arms production requires missing orders from European governments, and without long-term contracts with arms manufacturers, one should not expect Europe to produce more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine in the coming years.

According to the European Commissioner, money from the EU budget cannot be used to purchase weapons for Ukraine, as there are a number of restrictions on investments in the defence industry outside the EU. However, money from the European Peace Fund or frozen Russian assets can be used to purchase weapons, he noted.

At the same time, Kubilius explains, next year Ukraine will receive about EUR 30 billion from the EU and will decide for itself how much of this amount to use for defence purposes. Currently, the EU is introducing a new mechanism that allows the integration of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex into the European defence industry.

The final communiqué of the EU summit, which took place on December 18-19, specifically notes that the European Council plans to intensify work on further support and development of the defence industry of Ukraine and deepening its cooperation with the EU defence industry.