Czech Republic to supply Ukraine with 1.5 mln large-caliber shells by year end

Czech Prime Minister Peter Fiala, after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday, noted that the country will supply at least 1.5 million units of large-caliber ammunition to Ukraine by the end of the year as part of the ammunition supply initiative, as it did last year, writes the news portal Novinky.cz.

"I want to emphasize that we will keep our promises as part of the ammunition initiative. We will supply Ukraine with at least 1.5 million units of ammunition, as we did last year, and I believe that this year we will exceed this figure. We also continue to train Ukrainian military personnel and pilots on F-16 simulators," the Prime Minister added.

Rutte thanked the Czech Republic for its initiative to supply ammunition and support Ukraine.

"We must continue to support Ukraine. I would like to express my gratitude to the Czech Republic not only for its military assistance, but also for leading the initiative to supply ammunition," he said.

Rutte also mentioned the increase in defense budgets, as well as the need to significantly strengthen the air defense of the entire Alliance.

"NATO has a clearly defined and ambitious plan. Each partner knows what it has to do. The details are secret, but I can say that we need to increase our capabilities in the field of missile defense, artillery and the production of large-caliber ammunition fivefold. The good news is that significant financial resources are already on the table, and their amount is growing. This also applies to the Czech Republic, which plans to significantly increase its defense budget by 2030," the NATO Secretary General noted.