A Czech-led initiative had concluded contracts for 1 million artillery shells for Ukraine, with shipments expected already in April, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on March 28, citing undisclosed sources.
"The deliberations are ongoing, and they take place within the fighter jet coalition," Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said in an interview with the Kyiv Independent in Stockholm on March 28.
The U.S. is negotiating to increase purchases of explosives from Turkey to boost the production of artillery shells amid allies' efforts to provide Ukraine with ammunition, Bloomberg reported on March 27, citing unnamed officials familiar with the matter.
Germany will hand over 10,000 artillery rounds from its own military stocks to Ukraine in the next coming days, German General Christian Freuding said in an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW) published on March 27.
Poland has decided to double its donation to the Czech-led initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in Riga on March 27, without providing a specific figure.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told journalists that Slovenia will join Czechia's initiative to supply artillery shells for Ukraine, Radio Prague International reported on March 26.
"We can do much more than the initially announced number," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told Bloomberg, saying that the number may be as high as 1.5 million.
The Icelandic government announced on March 25 that they will spend two million euros on the project. Iceland also said they will support the purchase of equipment for servicewomen in the Ukrainian army.
The EU has delivered 500,000 of the promised 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine and aims to deliver the total amount by the end of the year, the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said in his blog on March 25.
A large amount of ammunition will be sent to Ukraine "in the near future" within the Czech-led initiative to provide Kyiv with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on March 22.
"The package includes recoilless anti-tank guns, explosives, various types of artillery ammunition, gas masks, sniper equipment, smaller caliber ammunition, and more," Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
Lithuania had pledged 35 million euros (around $38 million) for the Czech initiative to buy 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on March 20.
Over the past few days, Germany, Belgium, and Finland announced aid packages for Ukraine totaling over 1 billion euros, a critical boost to Kyiv's military from Europe as the U.S. continues to squabble over and delay a $60 billion package of its own. While the latest assistance pledged is
Canada will commit nearly $30 million to the Czech Republic's initiative to provide Ukraine with ammunition, Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair announced on March 19 at a press conference in Ottawa.
Key developments on March 19: * Germany announces aid package for Ukraine worth $540 million * Anti-Kremlin militia claims fighting ongoing in Belgorod Oblast * Gunvor: Russia has lost 600,000 barrels of daily oil-refining capacity due to drone attacks * Shmyhal: Ukraine hopes to get enough shells by April * Borrell proposes using 90%
"We hope that this Czech initiative, which Luxembourg joined, will help us, and beginning since (from) April we will have enough ammunition to deter our frontline," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Finland joined a Czech-led initiative to provide Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, pledging 30 million euros ($35.6 million) to the effort, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen announced on March 19.
Belgium has announced defense aid packages for Ukraine worth 412 million euros ($445 million), including 300 Iveco Lynx light tactical vehicles, the Shephard News reported on March 18.
Key developments on March 17-18: * EU gives final approval to $5.5 billion for military aid to Ukraine * Deputy minister: Russia fires 7 times more shells than Ukraine * US Senator Graham in Kyiv: 'If you want aid to Ukraine, you'd better start talking to American taxpayers' * Ukrainian government allocating $128
The ammunition suppliers taking part in the Czech-led initiative to provide Ukraine with artillery shells include "some allies of Russia," the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing unnamed Czech officials.
Munitions for some of Ukraine's air defense systems may be nearly used up by the end of March, the Washington Post reported on March 15, citing unnamed Western officials.
Athens told EU officials that it could supply Ukraine with extensive ammunition stocks through Czechia this year, including 90,000 90 mm projectiles, 180 70 mm anti-tank projectiles, 2,000 127 mm Zuni rockets, and 4 million bullets, Kathimerini said.
The European Commission allocated 500 million euros (around $544 million) to increase the EU's ammunition production capacity to 2 million shells per year by the end of 2025, the commission's press service announced on March 15.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala avoided mentioning some of the details about the Czech-led initiative to provide Ukraine with artillery ammunition during a meeting that involved his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico, Aktualne reported on March 14, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in Czechia.
Portugal joined the Czech-led initiative to provide Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, pledging 100 million euros ($108.9 million) to the effort, the Portugal Defense Ministry announced on March 15.
Russian forces are concentrating their main efforts on making a breakthrough near the recently fallen town of Avdiivka, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on March 15.
The Czech-led initiative to provide Ukraine with artillery ammunition received "non-binding commitments" for a further 200,000 shells, in addition to the confirmed purchase of 300,000 rounds, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on March 12, according to the Czech Press Agency (CTK).
Russia is set to produce nearly three times as many artillery munitions as the U.S. and Europe this year, CNN reported on March 11, citing NATO intelligence estimates and unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Luxembourg's Defense Minister Yuriko Backes also said that the defense ministry had recently delivered 6,000 155mm shells to Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense of Lithuania announced the transfer of 155-mm artillery shells to Ukraine on March 7.
Czech President Petr Pavel said on March 7 that after Norway had joined the Czech-led allied initiative on purchasing 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, the required funds were collected, Czech outlet CT24 reported.
"Ukraine urgently needs large quantities of artillery ammunition to withstand the Russian war of aggression," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said.
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