Approximately 20 countries have allocated enough funds to purchase 500,000 artillery shells for the Ukrainian army under the Czech initiative.

This was stated by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, during a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington.

"I am pleased that about twenty countries have already joined our initiative - from Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands to Poland. Thanks to them, we can now purchase 500,000 artillery ammunition. We believe that there will be more deliveries in the future. There is no reason why we cannot deliver another million within the next 12 months," he said.

According to Fiala, the Czech initiative regarding ammunition for Ukraine is not a one-time project.

"Our goal is to create a long-term system for supplying heavy weapons ammunition. This will directly help change the situation on the front lines. Western countries must once again have sufficient defense industry potential. We must accept the fact that a more responsible security policy also involves a significant increase in the amount of armaments," he added.

As reported, the Czech initiative for the purchase of ammunition from countries outside the EU was presented by the Prime Minister of the Republic, Petr Fiala, at the EU summit in early February. Later, the Czech President, Petr Pavel, at the Munich Security Conference, mentioned the possibility of purchasing 800,000 units of ammunition for Ukrainians in third countries.

According to the Czech government, about twenty countries have joined the purchase.

The National Security Advisor to the Czech Republic, Tomáš Pojar, previously stated that Ukraine should receive the first shipments of ammunition purchased under the Czech initiative no later than June.