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Ukrainian soldiers could get ammunition procured outside the EU under the Czech initiative in June.
That’s according to Tomas Pojar, Czech National Security Advisor, cited by Euractive.
Pojar explained that transferring money and signing agreements would take time to start the actual deliveries.
“The promised money has to be received, and the contracts must be signed. And when the contract is concluded, it will take a few weeks to deliver it [ammunition — ed.] to Ukraine. So, starting June, the deliveries could be launched,” he said.
Previously, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala also made some predictions on the delivery timeline.
“I do not want to promise the impossible because even in an ideal situation, it will take months to successfully get the material to the frontline, where it is most needed,” Fiala said March 12.
Tomas Pojar rejected questions about names of the countries providing the artillery shells and added that the reasonable price and quality are the only things that matter when choosing the suppliers.
Also, he added Czechia and partners of the initiative expect Russia to impede the delivery, which is why no other details will be announced.
The Czech Republic oversees the initiative launched by Czech President Petr Pavel searching for available ammunition worldwide and coordinating future deliveries to Ukraine, and other countries provide the funding. So far, 18 countries have joined the initiative and first 300,000 artillery shells have been bought, according to Petr Fiala.
