Germany will transfer a batch of 10.000 artillery rounds from the Bundeswehr’s stockpiles to Ukraine in the coming days, Christian Freudinger, head of the situational center on Ukraine at the German Defense Ministry, told DW.
Ukraine urgently needs artillery shells, ammunition, missiles for modern air defense systems, and armored fighting vehicles the most.
To meet the urgent need of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for artillery rounds, Germany has decided to act in three stages.
- In the first stage, Ukraine will receive 10.000 rounds in the coming days.
- In the medium term, Germany has decided to support the Czech initiative and cover the costs of procuring 180,000 rounds, which will be transferred to Kyiv in the second half of the current year.
- For the long-term perspective, in addition to the Czech plan, Germany has signed a bilateral agreement to supply Ukraine with another 100,000 rounds starting approximately in the fourth quarter. Freudinger did not specify which country this agreement was made with.
Currently, there are several initiatives from Ukraine’s international partners to provide ammunition.
In particular, at the beginning of 2023, the EU promised to provide Ukraine with one million artillery rounds within a year. However, the implementation of this initiative has faced challenges. The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, has already set a new deadline: the promised one million rounds for Ukraine will be delivered by the end of 2024.
In February 2024, Czechia announced that it had found sources for supplying hundreds of thousands of rounds for Ukraine from abroad. It was stated that this could be done within a few weeks, but the process requires funding of $1.5 billion.
Among the ammunition found are 500.000 rounds of the 155mm NATO caliber and another 300.000 rounds of the 122mm Soviet caliber. These stockpiles were found in an unnamed country outside the EU.
Czechia has called on its allies to assist with the procurement of ammunition. In turn, a number of countries have agreed to finance the initiative, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, France, Norway, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Canada.
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