Czech-led initiative boosts ammo deliveries to Ukraine
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky announced on Monday in Brussels that 100,000 pieces of weaponry will be delivered to Ukraine in July and August thanks to the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition worldwide. In the following months, the pace of deliveries to Kyiv is planned to accelerate.
12:28 PM EDT, July 22, 2024
“In July and August we will send about 100,000 more pieces. From September, these deliveries will accelerate,” Lipavsky told reporters in Brussels before the meeting of foreign ministers of the member states.
At the end of May, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced that 15 EU and NATO countries had contributed over 1.6 billion euros (approximately 1.7 billion US dollars) to the Czech initiative to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine from third countries. This is in support of Ukraine's defense against a full-scale Russian invasion for over two years.
18 countries have joined
According to Defense Minister Jana Černochová, 18 countries had signed a memorandum with Czechia on participation in this initiative by the second half of June.
The Czech ammunition initiative, announced by President Petr Pavel, initially envisioned purchasing for Ukraine 500,000 artillery shells of 155 mm caliber and 300,000 shells of 122 mm caliber.
