The BBC headline says "EU gives Ukraine €2bn of ammunition after shell plea" but nothing has been delivered, and won't be for some time. Among the artillery shell manufacturers the go-to is BAE Systems. That's all I know about one of the more inflationary expenditures a country can make: we build 'em, we blow 'em up, then we build more. Sort of like the falling-down Chinese bridges of a few years ago: great for nominal GDP, a bit of a drag on real national wealth.
From the BBC, March 20:
More than a dozen European Union member states have agreed to supply Ukraine with at least one million artillery shells over the next year.
The plan, worth €2bn in total, was agreed in Brussels on Monday.
Ukraine had told the EU it needed 350,000 shells a month to hold back advancing Russian troops and launch a counter-offensive this year.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hailed the "game-changing decision" from the EU.
"Exactly what is needed," he wrote on Twitter. "Urgent delivery and sustainable joint procurement."
The deal comes as Russia grows concerned at a Ukrainian counter-offensive near Bakhmut or in southern Ukraine, according to a report from think tank Institute for the Study of War.
Meanwhile, Russia's own new year offensive "may be nearing culmination", the ISW added.
Defence and foreign ministers from 17 EU countries and Norway signed the ammunition agreement.
The first part of the plan commits €1bn ($1.06bn; £863m) of shared funding for EU states to draw upon their existing stockpiles, with the hope of sending this to Ukraine by the end of May.
The second part of the deal would see a further €1bn used to jointly order 155mm shells for Ukraine - the most sought-after artillery rounds....
....MUCH MORE
As mentioned in the outro from March 13's "Ukraine War: A Major Change In Messaging From U.S. Media":....Relaying the WaPo story, Business Insider:
All 500 original members of a Ukrainian battalion were killed or wounded in fighting with Russia, commander says
The fact they both published the story means someone in the upper reaches of the U.S. establishment wanted this story out. It's either indicative of a change in strategy for the west or it's an attempted fake-out of the Russians.
Where is James Jesus Angleton when you need him?
