Finland to allocate €30 million for Czech initiative to purchase shells for Ukraine
Finland will contribute €30 million to the purchase of artillery ammunition for Ukraine under the relevant Czech initiative.
Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen announced on Twitter (X) the decision after consulting with the commander of the Czech Defence Forces on the matter of improving support for European defence and Ukraine.
Keskustelut Tšekin puolustusvoimien komentajan kanssa Euroopan puolustuksen ja Ukrainan tuen parantamisesta. Keskustelimme erityisesti Tšekin ammusaloitteesta. Suomi osallistuu tähän aloitteeseen 30 miljoonalla eurolla. pic.twitter.com/SKnPe7TbeS
– Antti Häkkänen (@anttihakkanen) March 19, 2024
"In particular, we discussed the Czech initiative on ammunition. Finland will allocate €30 million for this initiative," said Häkkänen.
Earlier, Czech President Petr Pavel stated that Prague is working to deliver ammunition to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Prior to that, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that according to the signals received by Kyiv, Ukrainian military forces will soon experience an increase in ammunition supplies as part of the Czech initiative.
Tomáš Pojar, Czech Prime Minister's National Security Advisor, stated that ammunition purchased under a Czech-led initiative may arrive in Ukraine as early as June.
Czech President Petr Pavel announced at the Munich Security Conference that Czechia had found up to 800,000 NATO standard-calibre shells that could be sent to Ukraine within a few weeks if proper funding could be found.