Ceske Noviny reports.
"As of this morning (March 7th), we have raised a total amount for the purchase of all ammunition, namely 800,000 rounds," announced the President of the Czech Republic.
According to Pavel, the next step will be the signing of a memorandum with the Czech government and the establishment of mutual relations.
"The Czech side will provide information to all countries providing assistance about the schedule and how we will proceed further," the president said.
At the same time, the president noted that the ammunition should arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks.
However, on March 8th, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wrote in X that the country has only raised funds for 300,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine.
“Many thanks to all the countries that have joined the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine so far. We have managed to raise enough money to buy the first batch of 300,000 artillery shells. However, our goal is to deliver much more!” the head of government said.
“Our work and our help to Ukraine do not end here. We keep seeking partners so that we can continue to support Ukraine in its brave fight against the Russian aggressor,” he added.
In turn, the coordinator of the Czech initiative, Tomas Poyar, commenting on Pavel's statement about 800,000 shells, said that the president probably meant that Prague had raised enough money for the first batch of shells, not for the planned amount of ammunition.
On February 17, it became known that the Czech Republic had found sources abroad for hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds that it could deliver to Ukraine in a matter of weeks.
The Netherlands publicly announced their participation by allocating 100 million euros for the purchase of ammunition. France will also join the initiative to procure ammunition for Ukraine outside the EU. Additionally, Germany and Norway have expressed support for the initiative.
On February 22, it became known that Canada was ready to allocate up to $22 million for shells for Ukraine. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Kroo also announced that the country would finance the Czech initiative with €200 million.
On March 2, the Czech Republic announced that they would be able to make the first deliveries of ammunition to Kyiv within a few weeks.
Later, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė stated that her country would support the Czech Republic's multilateral initiative to purchase and transfer artillery ammunition to Ukraine.