The Czech government intends to use the proceeds from the frozen assets of the Russian Federation to purchase ammunition for Ukraine as part of a joint initiative of some Western countries. This was announced by Czech Defense Minister Yana Chernokhova.
"The European Union approached us a few weeks ago with a proposal to use the funds received from the frozen Russian assets to purchase ammunition for Ukraine," the statement published on the website of the defense ministry said, citing excerpts from TASS.
It notes that in this way the Czech Republic has received another source of funding for the initiative and intends to purchase "several hundred thousand rounds of ammunition" with these funds.
As indicated in In Prague, the Czech Ministry of Defense will act as an intermediary between the EU, providing funds, and suppliers of shells. At the same time, "urgent requests" from the Ukrainian side will be met first of all.
"We cannot disclose further details, as this could jeopardize assistance to Ukraine," the republic's defense ministry stressed.
As reported, on July 26, the European Commission announced that the EU had expropriated and transferred to the funds of the European Commission for Ukraine the first tranche of € 1.5 billion received from the proceeds from reinvestment of frozen assets of the Russian Federation, 90% of this money will go to compensate countries The EU is in favor of supplying weapons to Kiev. The next tranche is expected in March 2025
Czech President Petr Pavel, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 17, said that the republic had found an opportunity to purchase hundreds of thousands of artillery shells for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in third countries if funds were available. In April, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala informed that 500 thousand shells for Ukraine had been found within the framework of the Czech initiative. Contracts have been signed for the purchase of almost 200 thousand of these ammunition. According to him, contracts will be signed in the near future for the purchase of the remaining 300 thousand shells. Currently, 18 countries are participating in the initiative. As of the end of May, only Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and Portugal has fulfilled its financial obligations under the initiative, Czech Defense Minister Jana Chernokhova said.