"This war has also been a wake-up call for all of us about our military capabilities. We have given weapons to Ukraine, but in so doing, we realized that our military stockpiles have been depleted. With conventional war returning to the heart of Europe, we also realized that we are lacking critical defense capabilities, to be able to protect ourselves from a higher level of threats on the European continent itself," he said in a statement.
This is at least the second time Borrell has warned about Europe depleting its military stockpiles.
In September, Borrell stated that "The military stocks of most [European NATO] member states have been, I wouldn’t say exhausted, but depleted in a high proportion, because we have been providing a lot of capacity to the Ukrainians."
At that month's UN General Assembly meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO members need to reinvest in their arms industry.
MNA/PR