A number of countries have already contributed funds for the purchase of artillery ammunition at the initiative of the Czech Republic. But money is still lacking.
Funds for the transfer of Czech shells to Ukraine are still lacking
If we're talking about a million shells, that's about three billion euros. There are different calibers, smaller ones are a little cheaper. It would be great if everything could be done. At the moment, we can say that money is lacking more than shells
Hanno Pevkur
Minister of Defense of Estonia Hanno Pevkur
According to the Minister of Defense of Estonia, they are trying to find the missing sums primarily in the countries of Northern and Central Europe. France, which has stated that it is ready to contribute more, should be discussed separately.
A lot depends on the fact that we need to physically test some of the shells of these possible partners. We were told that it is possible to get [shells] there, but in what condition they are, whether they are suitable for use at all - all this needs to be checked, - explained the Minister of Defense of Estonia.
What is known about the initiative of the Czech Republic
We will remind you that the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that his country has discovered about 800,000 artillery shells outside the European Union, which can be transferred to Ukraine. But, according to him, this requires funding.
After that, a number of Western countries began to allocate money for the purchase of ammunition, which is one of the main needs of Ukrainian defenders.
Recently, the head of the Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic stated that as part of the initiative, 1.5 million shells could be transferred to Ukraine, instead of 800,000, as previously planned.
According to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine expects that the first batch of ammunition will be provided to our defenders already in April.
