Number of countries funding Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine has halved, - Pavel
The number of countries participating in the "Czech initiative" to procure ammunition for Ukraine has halved since Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš returned to office in December 2025.
This was stated by Czech President Petr Pavel in an interview with the Financial Times, according to Censor.NET.
Details
According to the Czech leader, only nine countries are currently funding the initiative, whereas last year there were as many as 18.
The publication notes that this trend raises concerns about workload distribution and the future of the project.
"The initiative is still active, but the new challenge is that only about nine member states are making financial contributions."
"This initiative provided up to 50 percent of all large-caliber ammunition for the Ukrainians, so in that sense, it cannot easily be replaced by anything else," Pavel explained.
He said that the future of the initiative should be among the issues discussed at the NATO summit in Ankara in July.
At the same time, Prime Minister Babiš told reporters that his government is currently prioritizing public funds for Czech citizens, as households are struggling with energy bills in the wake of the conflict with Iran, rather than supporting Ukraine.
"We don't have any money, so we receive funds from other countries and then supply [ammunition to Ukraine. — Ed.]," he added.
What happened before?
- It was previously reported that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, following a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing" in Paris, stated that the initiative to supply ammunition to Ukraine could be extended provided that other countries provide funding.
- Czech leader Pavel stated that Ukraine received 4.4 million rounds of ammunition as part of the "Czech initiative."
