Lithuania joins Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine
Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrida Šimonytė (photo: Getty Images)
Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrida Šimonytė, stated that Lithuania has decided to allocate €35 million to purchase ammunition for Ukraine as part of the Czech initiative.
"Lithuanian Government has allocated EUR 35 million to buy ammunition for Ukraine as part of the Czech ammunition initiative. Together, whatever victory takes!" she said.
Czech initiative
At the beginning of 2024, Czech President Petr Pavel announced that Prague had identified over 800,000 munitions in non-EU countries and agreed to sell the shells. In particular, 500,000 shells of caliber 155 mm and 300,000 of caliber 122 mm.
Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, and France supported the Czech initiative. For instance, on March 6, Germany provided a three-digit million sum to purchase ammunition, and Norway provided over $150 million.
In early March, Pavel stated that allies had already identified the necessary funds to purchase the announced batch.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Czechia uses contacts from the Cold War era to obtain the necessary ammunition for Ukraine. Prague is purchasing them from countries that act as allies of Moscow.
