Ukraine will receive almost million shells by end of year as part of Czech initiative - Blinken
Photo: Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The Czech initiative will enable Ukraine to receive nearly one million artillery shells by the end of the year, states US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a joint press conference with Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová.
"I especially want to welcome Czechia's work in finding the necessary ammunition that Ukraine needs on the battlefield, including 155-mm and 152-mm shells. This is critically important. By the end of the year, we expect the Czech-led initiative to provide almost a million rounds for Ukraine," emphasized the Secretary of State.
He reminded that Czechia has allocated $600 million for direct military aid to Ukraine and also plans to provide equipment worth $6 billion. By the end of the year, Czechia aims to train 9,000 Ukrainian defenders.
Additionally, as Blinken noted, Czechia is helping Ukraine repair outdated Soviet equipment, including tanks and howitzers.
Czech initiative
A few months ago, Czech President Petr Pavel announced that his country had found hundreds of thousands of artillery shells for Ukraine.
Following this, Ukraine's allies allocated funds to purchase these shells and supply them to Ukrainian defenders.
Recently, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced that the first batch of shells would be delivered to Ukraine in the coming days.
