Accord on ammunition for Ukraine must be reached says Polish FM

"The majority of EU countries believe that, as an exception, the EU should approve the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine also outside Europe as this is a matter of necessity," the Polish foreign minister has said.

"We must immediately help Ukraine, buying (ammunition - PAP) where it is possible," Minister Zbigniew Rau said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. He added that this was the opinion voiced by the overwhelming majority.

Asked about the possibility of a consensus, Rau said that agreement had to be reached.

The agreement is blocked by France which demands that contracts on ammunition should only go to companies which had a 100-percent EU chain of deliveries.

"In March, we agreed that ammunition could not be delivered from third countries as we wanted to reach a consensus as quickly as possible," Rau said, adding that, now, France started to block the deal and to exclude such EU companies which use components from third countries.

According to a PAP source, France seems isolated as its stance has frustrated Germany which uses components from non-EU countries in its ammunition production.

Poland, France and Germany are the EU ammunition producers. The EU decided to finance ammunition for Ukraine in March. The EUR 2 billion needed to finance the project are to come from the European Peace Facility (EPF).