Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on Tuesday, May 28, that the Prague-led initiative to procure ammunition for Ukraine will deliver its first shipment of artillery shells within days.
“The first tens of thousands of 155mm ammunition will be delivered in June. Ukraine can expect the first shipment within the next days,” Fiala stated.
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The 155mm shell, a NATO-standard caliber, is critical for the most commonly deployed howitzers and other heavy artillery used by Ukrainian forces.
These munitions are in high demand globally. Recent estimates indicate that Ukrainian forces use approximately 200,000 of these shells each month, while U.S. production capacity is only about 15 percent of that demand, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Fifteen EU and NATO countries have contributed over €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) to the Prague initiative, aimed at supplying Kyiv with ammunition and weapons sourced from outside Europe.
To date, Ukraine has received "918 pieces of heavy equipment, almost 21 million rounds of mid-caliber ammunition, and 1.7 million rounds of large-caliber ammunition and missiles" through various sources, Fiala added.
Fiala's announcement came ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Latvia’s Evika Silina, and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
This meeting is set to precede the NATO foreign ministers' summit in Prague on Thursday and Friday, where leaders are expected to discuss accelerating supplies, particularly air defense systems, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
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