The Czech Republic has raised enough money to buy only 300,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine — not 800,000 as previously suggested by the country’s president.
“We have managed to raise enough money to buy the first batch of 300,000 artillery shells. However, our goal is to deliver much more!” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala posted on X, contradicting an earlier statement by President Petr Pavel.
On Thursday, Pavel told journalists that his country secured enough money to buy 800,000 artillery shells outside the EU for ammunition-starved Ukraine.
Prague is leading an initiative to purchase 500,000 155 mm and 300,000 122 mm caliber artillery shells for Kyiv.
Overall, 18 countries have agreed to finance the purchases within the Czech-led initiative. While some governments — including from Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands — have announced actual financial commitments, others, such as France and Germany, haven’t provided exact figures.
Jacopo Barigazzi and Veronika Melkozerova contributed reporting.