Czech President Petr Pavel wants Sweden to help pay for nearly a million artillery shells in the war against the Russian occupying power.
Sweden’s Minister of Defense Pål Jonsson is positive about the Czech Republic’s initiative for a larger international delivery to Ukraine, where the need for ammunition is critical.
Three ways to proceed
– 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, says Defense Minister Pål Jonson.
Can Sweden pay for it?
– It is very possible, we have to look at it now. I was presented with it yesterday, and I think it’s a proposal worth looking into further, says På Jonson.
It was at the big security conference in Munich on Saturday that the Czech president spoke about the possibility of buying a larger stockpile of artillery ammunition. It is primarily about 15.5 centimeter artillery shells:
– We have located half a million 155-millimeter shells, and another 300,000 of 122-millimeter caliber that we hope to deliver within a few weeks, said Petr Pavel, president of the Czech Republic in Munich.
It is unclear where the ammunition is
Neither the Czech president nor the Swedish defense minister wants to state where these eight hundred thousand grenades are physically stored. It is somewhat vaguely implied that they are on the international arms market.
Ever since the war began almost two years ago, the Ukrainian military and political leadership has been talking about a shortage, above all, of artillery shells and anti-aircraft systems.
This is how the Ukrainian foreign minister expressed himself in Munich on Saturday:
– We all need a lot more artillery ammunition. Drones have become an important factor in the war and they can solve some problems, but they do not replace artillery ammunition, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
– If you add Ukraine’s needs to your own needs to replenish stocks, we all have to produce much more, said Dmytro Kuleba.
The Russians consume five times more
Defense Minister Pål Jonson underlines the urgent situation regarding Ukraine’s need for deliveries of weapons and ammunition from outside.
– It is serious, both in terms of artillery ammunition and various anti-aircraft systems, they need more of that. Right now the Russians are consuming upwards of 10,000 artillery shells, Ukraine is at around 2,000 per day. If Ukraine gets more ammunition, it has the opportunity to put more fire on the target, says Pål Jonson.