Lack of funds for Ukraine shell purchase initiated by Czech Republic, Estonia claims
Photo: Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur (Getty Images)
Some countries have already contributed funds for the purchase of artillery ammunition at the initiative of the Czech Republic. However, there is still a shortage of money, states the Minister of Defense of Estonia, Hanno Pevkur.
He noted that there are places in the world where shells can be purchased, but the issue is money.
"If we're talking about millions of shells, that's around three billion euros. There are different calibers, slightly cheaper ones. It would be great if everything could be done. At the moment, we can say that there is more of a shortage of money than shells," Pevkur said.
According to the Minister of Defense of Estonia, the shortfall is primarily being sought in the countries of Northern and Central Europe. France, which has stated that it is ready to make a larger contribution, still needs to be discussed separately.
"A lot depends on the fact that we need to physically inspect some shells of these potential partners. We were told that they can be obtained there [shells], but in what condition they are, whether they are usable at all - all this needs to be checked," he explained.
Czech Republic initiative
Czech President Petr Pavel stated that his country has identified about 800,000 artillery shells outside the European Union that could be transferred to Ukraine. However, according to him, this requires funding.
After that, several Western countries began allocating money to purchase ammunition, which is one of the main needs of Ukrainian defenders.
Recently, the Czech Foreign Minister stated that as part of the initiative, Ukraine could receive 1.5 million shells, not 800,000 as planned earlier.
According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, our country expects that the first batch of ammunition will be provided to our defenders already in April.
