Norway will allocate 153 million dollars for the Czech side's initiative regarding the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine in third countries.
What is known about the funds allocated to Ukraine from Norway
As reported by the government, Norwegian support provides total financing of the initiative. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Stere hopes that Ukraine will receive much ammunition soon.
Norway supports Ukraine with artillery ammunition both from its own stocks and directly from industry. Today, we decided to contribute up to NOK 1.6 billion to the initiative organized by the Czech Republic to provide Ukraine with such necessary artillery ammunition as soon as possible, — said Norwegian PM Jonas Gar Stere.
The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that Prague has discovered 800,000 artillery ammunition that can be purchased for Ukraine. He specified that funding is needed for this.
They want to buy ammunition outside the European Union. This was a back-up plan, as the bloc did not fulfill its promise to hand over a million shells to Ukrainian defenders by March.
Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, and France have already supported Czechia's plan.
Bloomberg sources reported that the Czech shells' initiative for Ukraine is almost fully funded. Arrangements mean that Ukraine could receive the ammunition within a few weeks, but delivery times depend on many factors, so they are approximate.
Aid to Ukraine from Norway
Recently, the Norwegian government decided to allow the direct sale of weapons and defence products from the Norwegian defence industry to Ukraine's defence authorities. This policy change took effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
In Oct. 2023, Norway announced financial assistance for demining Ukraine. It is about $18.5 million.
Kyiv also recently started negotiations with Oslo regarding the conclusion of a bilateral security agreement.
