LONDON, April 2. /TASS/. Germany will send Ukraine 180,000 artillery shells acquired as part of a Czech-led plan for purchasing munitions outside of the EU, Reuters said, citing a spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry.
According to him, Germany will provide 180,000 shells to Kiev to the tune of 576 mln euros within the framework of the Czech initiative. It is noted that Germany’s share will account for 40% of the initiative.
On March 19, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth approximately 500 mln euros. Speaking at the US air base in Ramstein, Germany, he noted that the package also included 10,000 shells from the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) stockpile.
On February 17, Czech President Petr Pavel, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said that his country had identified an opportunity for purchasing hundreds of thousands of artillery shells for Ukraine in third countries if funds could be made available to pay for the initiative. Previously, Politico wrote that Prague, upset by the EU’s failure to fulfill its promise to send one million rounds to Ukraine between March 2023 and March 2024, had demanded that Brussels begin purchasing ammunition for Ukraine all over the world, particularly in Turkey, South Africa and South Korea. On March 28, Corriere della Sera reported that the Czech Republic and 15 countries that joined its initiative had signed corresponding agreements with suppliers.