15 countries are ready to join initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine outside Europe - Czech PM Fiala
Several European Union countries support the Czech Republic’s initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine outside of Europe. In particular, France and the Netherlands are ready to join it.
This was stated by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and participants of an informal summit on support for Ukraine, convened on Monday at the initiative of the French president, Censor.NET reports citing Le Monde.
Fiala noted that fifteen countries are ready to join his country's initiative, which aims to solve the problem of the shortage of ammunition, in particular artillery shells, for Ukraine.
"The Czech initiative enjoys strong support from several countries," Fiala said after the meeting in Paris, adding that "this is a very strong signal to Russia."
French President Emmanuel Macron noted that the Czech proposal was in line with past EU policies and announced that Paris would join the initiative.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that his country would allocate more than 100 million euros to implement the Czech plan, and that "other countries will join in."
"As for ammunition, there is a very good Czech initiative to buy ammunition and shells from all over the world for Ukraine," Rutte explained.
However, he did not specify which countries outside of Europe could be involved in the production of this ammunition, adding that "this is a secret."
It was noted that the EU is trying to fulfill its obligations to Ukraine, especially in terms of supplying the necessary shells.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who was also present in Paris, assured that EU defense ministers would present "in the next ten days a concrete plan to strengthen the ability to order ammunition to support the military efforts of the Ukrainian people."
