"Czech initiative gains momentum": President Pavel reports on ammunition procurement for Ukraine
Photo: Oleksandr Bramsky / Suspilne
Prague has already identified over a million units of ammunition that could be acquired from non-EU nations. As of April 16, 20 countries have already joined the Czech effort to procure projectiles from Ukraine.
The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, stated this, according to České noviny.
The Czech Republic's leader spoke with journalists during a visit to the Zlin Region. He highlighted the initiative's progress.
Pavel also noted that the search for money and partners continues.
"I think this reflects the fact that everyone is aware of a particular obligation regarding the promised aid to Ukraine. The European Union had pledged to provide one million units by March of this year, but unfortunately, this did not happen," the Czech president explained.
The day before, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala informed that Prague had already signed a contract for 180,000 units of artillery ammunition for Ukraine and was working on securing another 300,000.
"We are working to secure another 300,000 shells and have already concluded contracts for the first 180,000. They will be delivered to the Ukrainian front in the coming months," he said.
Fiala noted that this was made possible thanks to a coalition of about 20 countries.
According to Fiala, the only way to quickly provide Ukraine with urgently needed shells is for European countries to purchase additional artillery ammunition from other countries.
"If we are not going to allow the fall of Ukraine – which, of course, is not in our interests – then it is good that initiatives like ours are being created, which are trying to get ammunition and the necessary equipment for Ukraine, wherever it is," Pavel said during his trip.
It is worth mentioning that the Financial Times predicted in late February that the purchase of 800,000 units of ammunition would cost 1.5 billion dollars. However, on April 16, Tomasz Kopechny, the Czech government's representative for Ukraine's restoration, clarified that the shells cost about twice as much – approximately 3 billion dollars.
Earlier, Czech President Petr Pavel assured that his country is trying to deliver shells to Ukraine "as quickly as possible." At the same time, Europe is increasing its capacity for the production of ammunition.
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:
- German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said that Germany would participate in the purchase of 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine that the Czechia found outside the EU.
- Latvia has decided to join the Czech initiative to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine.
- France to join Czechia in purchase of 800,000 shells for Ukraine's defense
- Warsaw joined the initiative of the Czech Republic to purchase hundreds of thousands of artillery shells for Ukraine, but it is not known how much the Polish government allocated.
- Portugal will join the Czech initiative to procure ammunition for Ukraine from third countries.
- Finland plans to back the Czech Republic's initiative to send hundreds of thousands of artillery ammunition to Ukraine by allocating 30 million euros.
- 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 ammunition production and will bring this capacity to 1 million ammunition per year in March of this year and to 2 million in 2025.
Moreover, 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.
Iceland has announced that it will financially support the Czech Republic's initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine and equipment for female service members of the Ukrainian army. The island country will allocate about two million euros for this.
It's important to note that the Czech Republic has already located over a million units of artillery ammunition in non-European Union countries that can be purchased and transferred to Ukraine.
