Czech-led initiative secures monthly ammunition supplies to Ukraine through 2025

The Czech Republic has confirmed that Ukraine will receive additional ammunition on a monthly basis until the fall of 2025, thanks to a Czech-led initiative for arms procurement, according to Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, as reported by European Pravda.

“The key achievement is that we have secured funding, and now the initiative has enough resources to provide Ukraine with ammunition every month until September,” he said.

The Prague-led endeavor was created to co-finance the procurement of arms for Ukraine from external markets – mainly from third countries that are willing to support Ukraine but cannot do so openly due to various circumstances.

Thanks to contributions from NATO country members Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark, sufficient funds have been raised for a stable supply of ammunition.

“This initiative has reduced the effectiveness of Russian artillery by 500 percent,” Lipavský said.

The project has also narrowed the shell gap between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Russian army from a ratio of 1:10 to 1:2. 

“This is a significant achievement,” Lipavský said.

In the past year, Czech industry supplied 1.5 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine, 1.5 million large-caliber 155-millimeter and 152-millimeter shells, the minister highlighted.

“We must ensure that this material reaches Ukraine so that it can defend itself against Putin’s imperialist war of conquest,” he said.

In February 2024, Czech President Petr Pavel announced this initiative to procure shells for Ukraine during the Munich Security Conference. The project has gathered weapons from around the world, including both EU countries and others. In total, the initiative involves 15 countries.