Germany to provide EUR 576 million for Czech shells-for-Ukraine plan

Germany plans to contribute EUR 576 million to the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine from outside the EU, the German Ministry of Defence told Reuters on Tuesday. German Federal Defence Minister Boris Pistorius had previously announced that Berlin would pay for 180,000 artillery shells, but the exact amount of money was not specified at the time.

To date, around 20 countries have joined the Czech initiative to source hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery shells from outside NATO and the EU. Germany's share will account for around 40 percent of the initiative, the ministry said.