The shortage of artillery ammunition in Ukraine has become a problem and its use on the battlefield has been reduced. Then Czech President Petr Pavel released a big news at the security conference in Munich in mid-February.
– We have just identified half a million 155 millimeter grenades and another 300,000 grenades of 122 millimeter caliber, we hope to deliver this within weeks, said Petr Pavel.
Denmark and Canada join the project
The president of the Czech Republic appealed to several countries in Munich, including Sweden, to participate in the initiative to buy the grenades found by the Czech Republic. Several countries have now chosen to join the collaboration, reports Reuters.
Canadian CBC states that Canada is ready to contribute $30 million to the project and Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair has also spoken out about the initiative which he believes could make more ammunition available to Ukraine.
The Czech foreign minister, Jana Cernochova, also states that Denmark is involved in the project.
Ministry of Defence: Cannot comment on who is participating
In addition to Denmark, Canada and the Czech Republic, more countries are to participate in the initiative. However, they are anonymous at the moment – which is said to have been a requirement from the countries concerned, according to the Czech Foreign Minister. The Czech Ministry of Defense also does not want to comment on which countries are involved in the project.
“For security reasons, we cannot comment on which countries will participate in the purchase of the ammunition. We also cannot tell you where the ammunition is to be bought from,” writes the Czech Ministry of Defense to TV4 Nyheterna.
Sweden was singled out by President Petr Pavel as one of the partners to contact, and Defense Minister Pål Jonson has previously spoken positively about the Czech initiative.
– I think it is an interesting proposal that we will continue to work on. Ukraine needs more artillery shells. There are three ways; either that they can remove our existing stocks, the other is that we produce new ones, or that you procure on the international market, said Minister of Defense Pål Jonson shortly after the Czech Republic presented its plans.
TV4 Nyheterna has sought Pål Jonson for a comment on how Sweden has continued to work with the project.
Tobias Billström attended a meeting in France this week with President Macron and representatives from several European countries to discuss Ukraine. After the meeting, Foreign Minister Billström wrote on X that we needed to become more “creative and decisive in our support for Ukraine and focus on procuring ammunition”. The minister does not want to comment on whether they were referring to something in particular in the post.
“Significant contribution for Ukraine”
Where the 800,000 grenades are is currently unclear, but the Czech Republic has previously looked into whether it is possible to buy ammunition from countries outside the EU. Then it should have been about Turkey, South Africa and South Korea.
The Ukrainian use of artillery shells has been reduced and it is reported that around 2,000 shells are used per day. The former lieutenant colonel Jörgen Elfving has previously expressed that the addition of 800,000 grenades would make a big difference for Ukraine.
– If this goes through, it is a significant effort for Ukraine, said Elfving.
EU have also confirmed that they will not reach their set goal of delivering one million grenades to Ukraine in March. Josep Borell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, says that around 52 percent of the promised grenades will be delivered on time.