Czech Republic identifies foreign ammunition sources for Ukraine pending funding, says President Pavel
- We found half a million units of 155-millimetre (~6.10 inches) calibre ammunition and 300,000 units of 122-millimetre (~4.80 inches) calibre ammunition, said the Czech President, as quoted by the service lidovky.cz.
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So, where exactly is this ammunition? In early February, Politico reported that the Czech Republic is exploring ammunition resources from armament companies in South Korea, Turkey, and South Africa. However, President Pavel did not specify any country.
"There will be no problems with financing"
- For obvious reasons this is not feasible. If it were, these countries themselves would supply ammunition to Ukraine. However, due to political reasons, they might not regard this as a viable option, explained President Pavel. He emphasised that the Czech Ministry of Defence and Czech arms companies have an excellent understanding of global ammunition and equipment availability due to their strong contacts.
President Pavel also does not anticipate trouble arranging finance for the ammunition purchase. However, he didn't lay down a certain figure. - The sum will be a point of contention in negotiations with these countries, he noted.
The President stated that drawing from prior experiences with similar projects, including Denmark, Netherlands and Canada, such a purchasing model works rapidly, effectively and reliably. - Given the atmosphere at the conference, I suspect there should be no issues acquiring the necessary funds to finalise this transaction, added the Czech President.
According to Defence Minister Jana Černochova, the countries potentially cooperating in the ammunition delivery to Ukraine stipulate their participation hinges on not disclosing specific details about them.
- So long as European Union countries are unable to sufficiently augment their production capacity in the field of artillery ammunition, we propose that ammunition for Ukraine should also be procured from other countries, stated Černochová.
Recall that last year the EU committed to delivering one million units of ammunition to Ukraine by March. This promise has only been fulfilled halfway to date.
Source: lidovky.cz
