Finland has joined the Czech initiative to buy ammunition for Ukraine, contributing 30 million euros, Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen wrote on Twitter (styled ‘X’) after meeting Czech Army Chief of Staff Karel Rehka yesterday.
According to Reuters, Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair also announced yesterday that Canada’s contribution to the initiative would amount to more than 40 million Canadian dollars.
Prague earlier this year located 800,000 artillery rounds in third countries outside the European Union that it plans to procure for Ukraine. Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told Czech journalists in Brussels on Monday that so far it has received funds from allies to buy the first 300,000 rounds and another 500,000 are under negotiation.
About 20 countries have so far joined the purchase, including Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Poland.
Blair said yesterday that the Canadian contribution will help provide several hundred artillery shells. Canada already signed a defence agreement with the Czech Republic last month, which includes a commitment to help purchase artillery shells. However at the time, Ottawa did not specify the amount it would put into the initiative.
Canada has already provided Ukraine with about 40,000 155-millimetre artillery shells from its own stockpile and purchases through the U.S. government. In total, it has provided 4 billion Canadian dollars worth of military assistance to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expressed hope yesterday that thanks to the Czech initiative, Ukrainian troops will have enough ammunition from April onwards to defend their defence lines against the Russian forces, who have firepower superiority.
