Ukraine's foreign minister on when Ukraine will receive shells from Czechia
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukrainian military will begin receiving ammunition under the Czech initiative in the foreseeable future. At the same time, other initiatives on this issue are currently being considered, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba at a joint press conference with his Moldovan counterpart Mihai Popșoi on March 13.
"This week, we will have talks with Czech colleagues, where they will present in detail the plan of deliveries and how it will all work. We are ready for full cooperation and support," he said.
The minister added that Ukrainian military will feel the increase in ammunition supplies already "in the foreseeable future."
"It won't take many months. But the Czech initiative is designed to be implemented throughout the year. That is, the first batch of ammunition will start arriving in the foreseeable future. And then new batches will continue to arrive throughout the year," Kuleba said.
Other options available
The Foreign Minister also added that regarding other initiatives, "they exist."
"In particular, during the meeting in Vilnius, we discussed one of such initiatives. I called to start raising funds for it today as well. Because everyone should remember one thing: it doesn't work in a way that we raised funds for the Czech initiative, sighed, and said, 'We did it all.' The Czech initiative is good but not enough. Therefore, today we closed the issue of the Czech initiative, tomorrow we should already be closing the financial issues of other such initiatives. They exist, and we know about them. All that is missing is financial resources," Kuleba explained the mechanism.
He also said that if two more similar initiatives are implemented this year besides the Czech initiative, then "occupiers in Ukraine will feel more significant problems on the front lines."
What does Czechia say?
RBC-Ukraine reported today that ammunition purchased from non-EU countries at the initiative of Czechia could reach Ukraine as early as June.
"The promised money has to come, and the contracts must be made. At the point when the contract is concluded, it will take several weeks to get it (the ammunition) to Ukraine. From June onwards, supplies could flow," said the advisor to the Czech Prime Minister on national security, Tomáš Pojar.
In mid-February 2024, the Czech President Petr Pavel announced that Czechia had allocated 800,000 artillery shells caliber 155 and 122 millimeters for Ukraine. 18 more countries will join the collection initiated by Czechia. Latvia, among others, is on the list.
At the same time, Bloomberg reported that Ukraine's allies have allocated almost all the necessary funds for the purchase of 800,000 artillery shells within the framework of Czechia's initiative.
