Portugal joins Czech initiative to supply artillery to Ukraine
Portugal has decided to join the Czech Republic’s initiative to purchase artillery for Ukraine and will allocate €100 million for this purpose.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported in the Ministry of Defense of Portugal.
"Portugal will allocate €100 million to Ukraine for large-calibre artillery ammunition. This is a joint ammunition procurement programme led by the Czech Republic and joined by Portugal. Portugal joins it along with several European countries," the statement said.
As noted, the aim of this initiative is to quickly deliver as much ammunition as possible in various calibres, especially 155 mm. The use of this ammunition on the battlefield has reached an extremely high level, making it vital and urgent for Ukraine to receive additional ammunition to respond to the increasingly intense attacks by Russia.
The Portuguese Ministry of Defence also notes that the Council of Ministers has approved a resolution authorising up to €100 million in expenditure for this purpose. The support provided under this joint initiative is in addition to the military support Portugal has been providing to Ukraine since the first hours of Russia's invasion.
Czech initiative to purchase 800,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine
Earlier, Czech Prime Minister Fiala said that 15 countries are ready to join the initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine outside Europe.
In particular, Canada will join the Czech initiative and allocate 30 million Canadian dollars (about 23 million US dollars) for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine outside NATO.
The Netherlands is allocating more than €100 million for this initiative.
Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, and Sweden have also expressed support for this idea.
In addition, Norway has allocated $153 million for the Czech Republic's initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine.
The day before, Czech President Petr Pavel confirmed that Ukraine's allies had transferred all the funds needed to provide Ukraine with 800,000 artillery shells. He predicted that the ammunition should arrive in Ukraine "in the coming weeks".
The Czech initiative to purchase 800,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine from outside the European Union, which is jointly funded by various states, will be able to make its first deliveries to Kyiv in a few weeks.
