Czech president promises delivery of 800,000 artillery shells to Ukraine from third countries "within a few weeks"
Photo: Oleksandr Bramsky / Suspilne
The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that 800,000 artillery shells purchased in third countries could be delivered to Ukraine within a few weeks.
Bild reported this.
"If there are no fundamental problems, ammunition can arrive in Ukraine within a few weeks," said the former NATO general.
The publication notes that in this way, the Czech leader did what the European Union, whose countries delivered only part of the promised million artillery shells, could not implement.
The countries from which the ammunition comes are not specified. The mass media assumes that these countries have maintained neutrality in the war or have not openly opposed Russia: South Korea, South Africa, and Türkiye.
For reference:
On February 17, at the Munich Security Conference, Czech President Petr Pavel said that his country had found 500,000 155 mm and 300,000 122 mm rounds that could be delivered within weeks if the money was available.
According to Pavel, the Czech Republic could transfer the projectiles in weeks if funding is obtained from the USA, Germany, Sweden, and others.
It is known that the following joined the initiative of the Czech Republic:
- Canada, which will allocate 30 million Canadian dollars (about 23 million US dollars) for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine outside NATO;
- The Netherlands allocates more than 100 million euros to this initiative;
- Belgium, which will give 200 million euros for the initiative of the Czech Republic;
- Lithuania will join the Czech initiative to purchase and transfer ammunition to Ukraine.
- In total, 15 countries support the procurement of ammunition for Ukraine outside of Europe.
It is worth adding that during the past months, the European Union has significantly increased the production of ammunition and will bring this capacity to 1 million ammunition per year in March of this year and to 2 million in 2025.
