German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned that it is crucial to urgently provide Ukraine with fresh ammunition to counter Russia's invasion.
"It is very important that we quickly supply Ukraine with the necessary ammunition and do so quickly," Scholz told lawmakers at Germany's lower house of parliament on Thursday, promising action at a European Union summit next week.
Together with our European partners we will continue to ensure that Ukraine receives weapons and equipment to defend itself and to hold out,'' Scholz said.
"At the European Council, we will decide on further measures together with our EU partners to achieve an even better, continuous supply," he said, adding that ''we are prepared to open our procurement approaches with other countries as well.''
Scholz said that over the last 12 months Germany has supported Ukraine with nearly $15 billion to help fend off Russia's invasion, which is ''a considerable sum – but it is appropriate for our country," he said.
''And then there is Germany's participation in the comprehensive European Union support for Ukraine – for example in the form of direct budget aid – which is 18 billion euros (more than $19 billion) this year alone," said Scholz.
Europe's sanctions package ''continues to make it harder for Russia to pursue their war of aggression – and we will keep up the sanction pressure," said Scholz, adding that ''we will be ensuring together that third party countries do not find loopholes in these sanctions.''
Scholz said that the 27 European leaders are due to discuss issues such as competitiveness and energy, as well as the war in Ukraine, in Brussels next Thursday and Friday.