Malta will not be sending arms or ammunition to Ukraine, despite its involvement in common procurement within the European Defence Agency, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said in Parliament on Wednesday.

He said that the agency had initially mistakenly said in a statement that all countries involved in its common process for the procurement of arms and ammunition would be sending some of their purchases to Ukraine.

Yet Malta had made it clear from the outset that it is a neutral country and its assistance to Ukraine will only be humanitarian.

Malta’s participation in the common procurement process stemmed from the fact that prices for weapons and ammunition had risen sharply as a result of the war in Ukraine, and shortages had developed.

Malta needed to ensure it had secure provision of ammunition which the Armed Forces of Malta needed for training purposes, Camilleri said. Thanks to the economies of scale of the common procurement process, the price would be the same as for other European countries.

The minister was replying to a question by Labour MP Randolph DeBattista.