March 19th, at the 20th anniversary meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Ramstein air base, Defense Minister of Germany Boris Pistorius announced the provision of another aid package to Ukraine amounting to half a billion euros, which is divided between short-term and long-term supplies, Defense Express reports.
More specifically, Berlin will transfer 10,000 artillery ammunition from the Bundeswehr's stocks as an urgent commitment, while also contributing to the Czech initiative to purchase shells outside the EU. Within this plan's framework, Germany will finance 180,000 artillery rounds for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Another 100,000 rounds of 155-mm ammunition will be purchased from German manufacturers.
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In addition, a hundred armored vehicles for infantry (not necessarily infantry fighting vehicles) will be delivered, as well as a hundred transport vehicles. The delivery timeframes have not been specified yet, so are the types of equipment in question.
Also, the other day in Belgium, the government announced the allocation of an additional €412 million for military assistance to Ukraine. This package included medical evacuation vehicles and about 300 Lynx LMV armored vehicles. On top of that, three more Alkmaar-class trawlers will be gifted to Ukraine in a joint effort with the Netherlands. For a reminder, the Netherlands, in turn, is currently preparing two trawlers of the same class for transferring to the Ukrainians, the provision was officially announced in March 2023.
But the largest portion of Belgian aid — €373.1 million euros — was directed to procure ammunition for Ukrainian artillery. Part of the package will be sent rapidly from the country's own stocks, and the rest will be ordered through international funds. That is, quite possibly through the very same program put forward by the Czech Republic.
Speaking of which, Finland joined this initiative and added another €30 million to the pool, as announced by the Finnish Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen on the sidelines of the Contact Group meeting.
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