The Netherlands will allocate €100 million for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine outside the EU

The Netherlands will allocate €100 million to the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine outside the European Union.

This was reported by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte.

Rutte hopes that "other countries will follow the Netherlands." According to him, the countries that will provide the ammunition have asked not to name them.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that almost 15 countries have shown interest in the initiative, which is focused on finding urgently needed artillery ammunition for Ukraine on world markets.

Rutte also said that the Netherlands will sign a security agreement with Ukraine to continue supporting the country for 10 years. He added that Russia is preparing for a long war — Ukraineʼs allies must continue to show "unwavering support."

• On February 17, the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel said that the Czech Republic had found the sources of almost 800 000 ammunitions outside the EU countries. The country may be able to deliver them to Ukraine in "a matter of weeks", but will seek financing for this. Some EU countries, in particular France, have previously demanded that any EU funds spent on arming Ukraine be invested in European defense production. So they wanted to expand the limited production capabilities of the continent.