"The Czech-led initiative to fund and procure urgently artillery ammo for Ukraine is progressing steadily – the first 180,000 shells have been contracted and should arrive by June," František Šulc, the first Deputy Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic told Defense News during the IDEB defense fair, held here May 14-16.
Prague is actively engaged with partner nations to secure additional financial resources and ensure a "steady supply of ammunition" to Ukraine in the coming months, Šulc added.
Read more: First 180K Czech Artillery Shells to Arrive in Ukraine This June Despite "Revealing Cards" to russia and the West's "Mental Block"
In a recent interview with the German news service Tagesschau, Czech President Petr Pavel said the initiative was not advancing as rapidly as envisaged partly due to the russian government knowing details of the operation.
"The more people know about the initiative, the more competition there is – on the one hand it was necessary to make it public to gain the support of other countries, but on the other we also revealed our cards, which russia is of course now exploiting," Pavel said.
"This is another reason why the initiative is not progressing as quickly as we would have liked," he added.
According to Šulc, more than 16 European Union and NATO countries have joined the ammunition initiative and contributed money. The group is now working through coordination snags, especially with procuring from non-European vendors.
"One of the challenges is the need to source products outside the European defense industry due to time constraints – this necessitates negotiating with partner nations for sufficient funding and navigating regulatory environments in third countries," Šulc said.
Meeting the security and specific requirements of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is also “very time-consuming,” he added.
Slovakia, host of the arms fair Šulc was visiting last week, has declined to join the initiative, though citizens here organized a private fundraiser campaign raising $1.6 million in donations.
Šulc said his government respects nations’ decisions to partake or not. But, he added, "It is essential to convey the urgency of the situation in Ukraine and the critical need for support."
Read more: First Artillery Shells Under Czech Initiative Could Arrive in Ukraine by Late May or Early June
