European leaders hope to transfer 500 000 artillery shells to Ukraine by the end of the year as part of the Czech initiative

By the end of 2024, the European allies plan to transfer 500 000 artillery shells to Ukraine as part of the Czech initiative. This is stated in the joint statement of the leaders of the European Union, Radio Free Europe reports.

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala said that Kyiv can expect the first batch of 155 mm artillery shells already "in the next few days." 15 EU and NATO countries have already donated more than €1.6 billion to the initiative.

After the meeting in Prague, European leaders said that with current funding, they "expect to deliver half a million artillery pieces by the end of the year."

Polish President Andrzej Duda, in turn, promised to facilitate the transportation of artillery shells and called the situation on the Ukrainian-Russian front difficult. According to him, Russia has the initiative in the war and is preparing another major offensive, so artillery will play a key role in the defense of the Ukrainian military.

Czech initiative

In February, Czech President Petr Pavel said that his country had found a way to get 800 000 shells for Ukraine, but needed funding for this.

Already in March, the Czech Republic, together with its partners, managed to collect part of the funds for the purchase of the first batch of 300 000 artillery shells for Ukraine.

On March 26, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Jan Lipavsky, said that Ukraine could receive 1.5 million shells within the framework of the Czech initiative.

On April 16, the Czech Republic contracted the first 180 000 ammunition for Ukraine. On April 24, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that Ukraine will receive the first batch of ammunition from the Czech initiative within the next two months.

The full list of countries financing the initiative is not announced. However, it is known that Finland, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain, Canada, France, Poland and Belgium have already joined it.