NEW YORK, March 6. /TASS/. Ukraine’s allies have raised almost all funds, necessary for the implementation of the Czech initiative on procurement of 800,000 shells for the Ukrainian armed forces, Bloomberg reported citing its sources.
According to the report, the munitions could be delivered to Ukraine within several weeks, but the exact timeframe will depend on the contracts and the shipment schedule.
Various estimations suggest that Ukraine will require at least 200,000 shells per month to continue conducting hostilities.
During the Munich Security Conference on February 17, Czech President Petr Pavel said that Prague has found an option to procure hundreds of thousands of artillery shells in third countries, if the necessary funding is raised. Previously, Politico reported that the Czech Republic, displeased with the failure of the EU’s promise to ship one million shells to Kiev between March, 2023 and March, 2024, demanded that Brussel begin procuring munitions for Ukraine around the world, including in Turkey, South Africa and South Korea.
The Czech Commissioner on rebuilding Ukraine Tomas Kopecny said on March that the Czech initiative was joined by Belgium, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and the US. Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in a phone call with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala that Vilnius will support Prague’s proposal. Kopecny said that the initiative provides for 800,000 shells, but "this figure is not final."