EU countries order only 60,000 shells for Ukraine via new scheme - sources

FILE PHOTO: 155mm artillery shells are seen during the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 16, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union countries have placed orders for only 60,000 artillery shells under an EU scheme to help get 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by next spring, according to people familiar with the figures.

The scheme was a centrepiece of an EU initiative to ramp up the supply of vital 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine, allowing countries to place orders with industry through contracts negotiated by the bloc's European Defence Agency (EDA).