Ukrainian servicemen fire a French-made 155mm Caesar self-propelled gun towards Russia at the front line in Donbas in June 2022 (Photo: AFP).
"The lack of ammunition and the thirst for artillery shells are very real and urgent problems," Umerov said in an online speech at an event held on January 18 to announce the "artillery alliance".
The 23-nation artillery coalition led by the United States and France is working to strengthen Ukraine's artillery capabilities in a short period of time.
Mr. Umerov made the above revelation a day after the head of the foreign affairs department of the French Senate, Mr. Cedric Perrin, pointed out that Ukraine is firing between 5,000 and 8,000 artillery shells per day, compared to Russia's figure of 15,000 shells per day.
A recent report by the French Senate stressed that France, which produces 20,000 artillery shells a year, and other EU countries are unable to meet Kiev's ammunition needs.
French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on January 18 that the supply of artillery shells to Ukraine is being stepped up. From this month, France will provide 3,000 155mm artillery shells per month, up from 1,000 shells per month at the beginning of the war and 2,000 shells per month from April 2023.
Production of other weapons is also being accelerated.
French manufacturer Nexter used to take 30 months to complete a Caesar cannon but now it takes half that time, Mr Lecornu told Le Parisien .
Caesar is one of several artillery systems supplied to Ukraine by the West. They are said to have advantages over older Soviet-era systems, especially when combined with high-precision shells.
From 18 months, Thales now needs just six months to build a GM200 radar cluster. Production times for MBDA's Mistral short-range air defense missile have also been significantly reduced, Lecornu said.
Minister Lecornu also said that Paris could produce 78 155mm Caesar guns for Kiev between now and early 2025.
Ukraine has paid for six guns and they will be delivered "in the coming weeks", according to the French Defense Minister. France will finance the production of 12 Caesar guns and call on other allies to provide 250 million euros for the remaining 60 guns.
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