Lithuania will join the Czech Republic’s initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine outside the EU.

Militarny reports on this, citing the press service of the Lithuanian government.

This was announced after a telephone conversation between Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala the day before.

According to Šimonytė, the Czech initiative is especially important now, given the slowdown in the supply of ammunition to Ukraine.

“Lithuania will continue to support all formats of assistance that would increase Ukraine’s ability to effectively defend itself against Russian aggression, thus protecting the freedom of the whole of Europe,” Šimonytė said.

Within this initiative, countries participate in the joint procurement and transfer of ammunition to Ukraine by identifying possible stockpiles of ammunition or sources of rapid production available for purchase.

All for the sake of delivering military aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as soon as possible, which is necessary to confront the Russian invaders.

As previously reported, the Czech Republic has located about 800,000 artillery rounds of NATO and Soviet-era caliber in third countries that can be purchased for Ukraine.

According to the Czech President, the country’s representatives managed to find about 500,000 155-mm artillery shells and 300,000 122-mm shells abroad.

Several NATO countries have already supported this Czech initiative.

The Netherlands, which will allocate €250 million to purchase the ammunition, and Belgium, which will provide €200 million, have publicly announced their participation.

France has also supported this initiative, but no funds have been reported. Overall, fifteen countries support the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine outside the EU.