2024-03-07 15:18:34
Germany will support the Czech Republic’s initiative to supply hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit announced today in Berlin, quoted by DPA.
Hebestreit said that the German government has been in very intensive negotiations with Prague on this issue for some time and added that “hundreds of millions” would be allocated to support the initiative, but did not specify exactly what the amount would be.
The plan to deliver 800,000 artillery shells from third countries – outside the EU – has not yet been completed, but according to the spokesman, this will happen in the near future.
In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army, which has been struggling to repel a Russian invasion for more than two years, has been increasingly on the defensive due to a lack of ammunition. Russia, on the other hand, has increased its weapons production and receives ammunition from North Korea and Iran, DPA noted.
French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday during a visit to Prague that Paris would also join the initiative. Czech President and former NATO Secretary General Peter Pavel told the Munich Security Conference in mid-February that about half a million 155mm rounds and 300,000 122mm rounds had been “identified” abroad.
According to some media, ammunition may be supplied from countries such as South Korea, South Africa and Turkey.
In addition to France and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Denmark and Lithuania also declared that they would support the plan, writes BTA.