Ukraine in the coming days will get the first 155-millimeter shells bought outside Europe through a Czech-led initiative, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Tuesday.
The Czech Republic is spearheading an international fundraising drive to buy ammunition for the Ukrainian army, which has been battling a Russian invasion since February 2022.
“Fifteen EU and NATO countries already contributed over 1.6 billion euros” ($1.7 billion), Fiala said in Prague.
“The first tens of thousands of 155 millimeter ammunitions will be delivered in June. Ukraine can expect the first shipment within the next days,” he added.
He was speaking as he met his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Smyhal, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Latvia’s Evika Silina, and Polish President Andrzej Duda in the Czech capital.
Fiala said Ukraine had received “918 pieces of heavy equipment… almost 21 million rounds of mid-calibre ammunition and 1.7 million rounds of large-calibre ammunition and missiles” from allies since the war started.
The leaders were due to discuss ways to accelerate supplies, including air defense systems, and to boost defense industry cooperation.
On Thursday and Friday, Prague will host a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in the run-up to a NATO summit in Washington in July.