France joins the Czech initiative to purchase shells for Ukraine

During his visit to the Czech Republic, French President Emmanuel Macron said that his country supports the Czech initiative to purchase 800,000 shells for Ukraine outside the European Union.

He announced this at a press conference with his colleague Petr Pavel.

“We have accelerated and increased our production in Europe and delivered existing stock. We have to go beyond what we can produce and look to third countries for the remaining capacity to cope in the short term," Macron said.

He added that he was calling for a "strategic surge" against the "defeatist spirit that is hovering."

At the last Munich conference, the president of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that in cooperation with Canada and Denmark, the Czech Republic found 500,000 155-mm ammunition and 300,000 122-mm shells, which can be delivered within a few weeks if the necessary funds are available.

According to the Financial Times, Prague wants to raise $1.5 billion to pay for the ammunition.

• Other countries are already joining the initiative of the Czech Republic. The Netherlands announced that they are investing €250 million in the Czech initiative to order artillery shells, and Lithuania is also joining.