Lithuania will support the Czech Republicʼs initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine outside the European Union. It is about 800 thousand shells.
The Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrid Šimonite, announced this after a telephone conversation with the head of the Czech government, Petr Fiala.
"This is a very important initiative, especially in this period when the supply of ammunition to Ukraine has slowed down. As before, Lithuania will continue to support all forms of aid that will increase Ukraineʼs ability to effectively defend itself against Russian aggression, thus protecting the freedom of the whole of Europe," said the Prime Minister.
At the same time, it is not known how much money Lithuania will allocate for this initiative.
The leaders of the Lithuanian and Czech governments also discussed the security situation in the region, the importance of increasing defense investments in Europe and strengthening bilateral relations.
- 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 can 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.
- The Netherlands has announced that it will invest €250 million in the Czech initiative to order artillery shells for Ukraine.