Belgium pledges €200 mln to Czech artillery initiative for Ukraine

Belgium will provide €200 million for the Czech initiative to deliver hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine quickly.

Prime Minister Alexander de Croo says more ammunition will arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks.

"We will never be able to match the sacrifices that Ukraine makes every day. But we can give President Zelensky what he asks for – more weapons to defend against the Russian aggressor. Belgium will finance the Czech initiative with 200 million euros."

Since Europe is not fulfilling its promise to send one million artillery shells to Ukraine by March, Czechia considers it necessary to look for supplies outside the EU.

Canada will join the Czech initiative and allocate $23 million to purchase ammunition for Ukraine outside of NATO. The Netherlands will allocate more than 100 million euros for this initiative.

15 countries outside of Europe support the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine.

On May 3 last year, the EU Council approved a decision to provide Ukraine with €1 billion in aid for joint procurement of ammunition and missiles.

The plan was to compensate for supplies to member states, including another €1 billion for joint ammunition purchases and an increase in EU production capacity.

On November 14, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted that the EU could not provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells by March 2024.

On January 11, the European Commission said that the bloc would be able to produce one million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine by the end of winter 2024.

Meanwhile, the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is currently one of the main suppliers of military equipment to Ukraine, which promises to supply Ukrainian forces with many different ammunition and armored vehicles this year and next.