Portugal pledges over $100 million ammo purchase for Ukraine
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The Portuguese government has approved the allocation of EUR 100 million ($109 million) to support the Czech initiative aimed at purchasing ammunition for Ukraine, the Portuguese Defense Ministry announced in a press release on March 14.
The initiative's primary objective is to expedite the delivery of a substantial quantity of ammunition across various calibers, notably including 155 millimeters, as "the use of these munitions on the battlefield has reached an exceedingly high level, underscoring the vital and urgent need for Ukraine to receive additional shells to respond to the ongoing and increasingly intense Russian attacks."
Czech President Petr Pavel said on Feb. 17 that his country found hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds abroad that it could transfer to Ukraine. However, he did not name the countries that were willing to sell the shells. Several European countries later joined the Czech leader’s initiative.
A representative of the Ukrainian security forces told NV that the missiles are to be sourced from South Korea and South Africa. The contract is worth about $2 billion.
Some media reported on March 7 that the Allies had raised the entire amount needed to purchase the shells.
Czechia has purchased 800,000 artillery shells from third countries and they can be delivered to Ukraine within a few weeks, Bild reported on March 11. Prague could have purchased the ammunition in South Korea, South Africa, and Turkey.
Czech Prime Minister's National Security Advisor Tomáš Pojar said on March 12 that the ammunition could arrive in Ukraine in June.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on March 13 that about 800,000 artillery shells purchased for Ukraine under the Czech initiative will start arriving at the front soon.
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