Czech foreign minister wants EU to look outside bloc for ammunition for Ukraine

Czechia wants the European Union to look beyond its borders for ammunition supplies for Ukraine, Brussels news site Politico writes, citing diplomatic sources. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský confirmed this information on Saturday in Brussels, where he is attending an informal meeting of EU ministers, saying that Czechia proposed the idea due to concerns that Ukraine will not have enough ammunition to defend itself against Russia.

The EU is falling short on its pledge to send 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine by the end of March 2024, having so far delivered only about 330,000. According to Politico, Czechia would like to approach arms companies in non-EU countries such as South Korea, Turkey and South Africa to make up for the shortfall, as EU munitions factories are not able to produce such large quantities of shells fast enough to meet the promised deadline. It is now up to the other EU member states to decide whether they will support the proposal.