The Czech prime minister said on Tuesday that twenty countries had pledged enough to buy 500,000 artillery shells for Ukraine outside Europe within the so-called Czech initiative.
The Czech Republic is spearheading an international fundraising drive to buy ammunition for the Ukrainian army, battling a Russian invasion since February 2022.聽
European Union nations had promised one million shells by the end of March but have fallen well short in deliveries as their production capacities are limited.聽
The Czechs said in March they were able to collect a substantial amount of weaponry -- some 800,000 shells in total -- for Ukraine outside the continent.聽
鈥業 am glad that at this moment, about twenty countries already joined our initiative 鈥�- from Canada, Germany and the Netherlands to聽Poland,鈥� Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said during his visit to Washington.
鈥楾hanks to them, we can now provide 500,000 rounds of artillery ammunition. We believe that more deliveries will follow,鈥� he said in a speech at the Hudson Institute.
He said earlier that Ukraine could get the first shells in June.
The countries taking part also include the Baltic States, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia, said Czech media.聽
Fiala said that there was no reason why the donors could not 鈥榙eliver one million more in the next 12 months鈥�.聽
鈥業 want to highlight that this initiative is not a one-time project. Our goal is to create a long-term system of ammunition supplies for heavy weapons. This will directly help to change the situation on the frontline,鈥� he added.
The Financial Times said earlier the purchase of 800,000 shells would cost $1.5 billion.
But Tomas Kopecny, Czech commissioner for the reconstruction of Ukraine, told Czech Radio on Tuesday the sum was roughly twice as high.
