Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky stated that his country is committed to continuing the program of supplying heavy ammunition to Ukraine next year as well, in line with Europe’s efforts to strengthen support for Kyiv. He noted that the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition with allies’ funds has become a turning point on the battlefield.
According to him, if at the beginning of the war the ratio of artillery shots between Ukraine and Russia was 1 to 10, now it is 1 to 2, Bloomberg reports.
Czechia declared that this year supplies would increase to 1.8 million shells thanks to funding from 11 countries. However, plans to continue the program might depend on the results of the parliamentary elections in October.
"We have secured funding for next year. But it is vitally important to maintain political support for the ammunition initiative after the Czech parliamentary elections," Lipavsky noted at his office in the Czech capital, adding that his country has trained 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers and plans to train pilots.
He added that "Europe now clearly understands that under the leadership of Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, we must be able to take care of our security. We need to be prepared, we must be united, and we must have strong armies so that Russia does not even think about attacking."