15 EU countries ready to buy shells for Ukraine outside Europe

Several European countries support the Czech initiative to purchase shells for Ukraine from outside Europe to provide more support to the Ukrainian army. 

Source: European Pravda; participants at an informal summit on support for Ukraine convened on Monday, 26 February at the initiative of the French President, as reported by Le Monde

Petr Fiala, Czech Prime Minister, said that fifteen countries are ready to join his state's initiative, which aims to solve the problem of the shortage of ammunition, particularly 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 for Russia." 

French President Emmanuel Macron said the Czech proposal aligned with past EU policies and announced that Paris would join the initiative.

 Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that his country will allocate more than €100 million to implement the Czech plan and that "other countries will follow".  

"As for ammunition, there is a very good Czech initiative to buy ammunition and shells from all over the world for Ukraine," Rutte explained. He refused to specify which countries outside of Europe might be involved in producing this ammunition. "It's a secret," Mark Rutte said.

Several countries, including France, Germany and Italy, have recently signed bilateral security agreements with Kyiv. The EU is trying to fulfil its obligations to Ukraine, especially regarding the supply of shells. 

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, who was also present in Paris, assured that EU defence ministers will present "a concrete plan within the next ten days to strengthen the ability to order ammunition to support the military efforts of the Ukrainian people". 

Background:

• At the Munich Security Conference, Petr Pavel, Czech President, said that the Czechia had found up to 800,000 shells of NATO-standard calibre which can be sent to Ukraine in a few weeks if it receives funding for delivery.
• Subsequently, the Czech Defence Ministry said on Friday, 23 February that it was coordinating efforts and had secured preliminary commitments from Canada and Denmark, as well as other countries that did not want to be named.

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