So far only Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal sent money to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine as part of a Czech initiative. Prague called on other allies to make the promised financial contributions.
This was announced by Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochová, quotes Euractiv.
Currently, 18 countries have already joined initiative. Despite this, funds are arriving in the Czech Republic gradually. The minister explained that the country cannot buy ammunition on credit.
«If some countries have signed the memorandum but have not yet sent the funds, we cannot continue the acquisition. This is a definite call to governments that have already signed memorandums to send money,” — Chernokhova stated.
As Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal said, the initiative has already managed to raise more than 1.6 billion euros. It is expected that the shells will begin to arrive in June.
According to the Ministry of Strategic Industry, Ukraine needs a quantity of artillery ammunition that no country, not even the United States, is able to provide. The state is developing more economically effective ways to hold the front. However, there are now several initiatives to provide shells from Ukraine’s international partners.
So, according to plans developed at the beginning of 2023, the EU promised to provide Ukraine with a million artillery shells within 12 months. However, the implementation of the initiative encountered problems. According to Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, among the reasons — “the pathetic state of the defense industry” EU.
High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell has already named a new term: the million promised ammunition will be provided to Ukraine by the end of 2024.
In February, the Czech Republic announced that it had found sources of supply for hundreds of thousands of shells for Ukraine from abroad. It was noted that this can be done in a few weeks, but the process requires funding — 1.5 billion dollars.
Among the ammunition found there are 500 thousand shells of 155 mm caliber, another 300 thousand shells of 122 mm caliber. Such reserves were discovered in an unnamed country outside the EU.
Prepared by: Nina Petrovich