The Czech Republic could deliver up to 800,000 artillery shells to Ukraine from abroad if partner nations secure financing, President Petr Pavel said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Delivery could start in a “matter of weeks” and include 500,000 155mm and 300,000 120mm rounds.
“We identified half a million pieces of 155-millimeter ammunition and 300,000 pieces of 122-millimeter ammunition,” Seznam Zpravy quoted the president as saying.
Pavel did not reveal the potential supplier, as this is one of the procurement conditions.
Previous Pitch
Prague pitched a similar proposal in an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels on January 31, according to Politico.
It pushed to procure 450,000 artillery rounds from non-European Union nations, with the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell specifically mentioning South Korea as one potential supplier.
It goes against France’s — the bloc’s defense industry leader — stance of focusing the subsidy on procuring a million promised rounds to Ukraine from local producers, according to Politico.
Half a Million Shells for Ukraine by March
A total of 524,000 shells are expected to reach Ukraine by the March deadline, achieving the original target by the end of the year, according to the outlet.
“The EU’s blueprint to boost ammunition supplies includes reimbursing countries with billions of euros through the European Peace Facility for sending shells from existing stockpiles,” Politico wrote.
“This would exist along with €1 billion to push joint procurement of ammunition by the European Defence Agency and €500 million to support ammunition production projects.”
It comes as Russia is reportedly out-shelling Ukraine at a ratio of five-to-one, forcing the Ukrianians to deploy FPV drones with lower ranges to bridge the gap.