Within the scope of the Czech initiative, Ukraine can receive 1.5 million shells, instead of 800 000, as originally planned.
This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský, Bloomberg cites.
"We can do much more than the figure that was announced at first," said Lipavský.
According to him, the announcement by the allies that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will soon receive new batches of shells "help Ukraine to fight better" because the military "knows that they will have fresh supplies of ammunition." At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to name the terms of delivery of shells.
At the same time, Lipavskyý emphasized that the Czech initiative alone will not be enough to support Ukraine.
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. According to the Financial Times, Prague wants to raise $1.5 billion to pay for the ammunition.
So far, the Czech Republic, together with its partners, was able to raise part of the funds for the purchase of the first batch of artillery shells for Ukraine. We are talking about 300 000 ammunition out of the 800 000 previously promised. The country continues to look for partners to further support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggressor.
The Wall Street Journal, citing Czech officials, noted that the Czech Republic has found suppliers all over the world, including Russiaʼs allied countries.