The first shipment of artillery ammunition purchased in non-EU countries thanks to the Czech initiative arrived in Ukraine some time ago, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on social media today.
Fiala (ODS) made the announcement ahead of a meeting with President Petr Pavel.
In late May, Fiala said that 15 EU and NATO countries had so far contributed over 1.6 billion euros to the initiative, while Defence Minister Jana Cernochova (ODS) said 18 countries had signed the respective memoranda with the Czech Republic as of the second half of June, most recently Iceland.
Ukraine should receive about half a million rounds of ammunition by the end of the year, with further shipments due to arrive in July, according to the ministers.
Fiala submitted the proposal to buy artillery ammunition for Ukraine from non-EU countries at the EU summit in February. The Czech Republic acts as an intermediary and connects individual countries with suppliers of military equipment.
The government does not want to disclose further details about the origin of the ammunition, said Cernochova, because the countries in question pursue “the policy of all azimuths” and do not want to take sides in the conflict. The opposition has criticised the government for not being clear about how much the Czech Republic will contribute to the initiative, and also questions the quality of the purchased ammunition.
Cernochova said she hoped that the ammunition supplies would make an impact on the battlefield.
“We will do our utmost to make sure that this is the case,” she said in a recent interview with CTK. “But the ammunition will be in the hands of the Ukrainians and it will depend on their tactics, on the military approach they choose. We can provide them with support just in the form of military materiel.”
