Czech President Petr Pavel stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine with weapons in his speech at the Munich Security Forum on February 17 in Germany.
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| Smoke rises from the Avdiivka Coal and Chemical Plant on February 15. (Source: Getty) |
Mr. Pavel said the Czech Republic is cooperating with partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including Denmark, the Netherlands and Canada, to provide Ukraine with necessary equipment and ammunition, including from third countries.
President Pavel said he was looking for ways to purchase 500,000 155mm and 300,000 122mm artillery shells for Ukraine in the coming weeks, but noted that Prague needed funding to do so. Pavel expressed his intention to seek financial support from partners in the United States, Germany, Sweden and other countries.
The initiative comes as European allies are working to increase supplies of artillery shells to Ukraine. It was previously reported that Ukraine could receive around 600,000 of the 1 million shells promised in March. On February 7, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced a 40% increase in the bloc’s defense industry’s production capacity, which could allow Ukraine to receive more than 1 million shells by the end of 2024.
In a related development, on February 18, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola O Meatchuk said that his country's forces destroyed 12 attack drones launched by Russia during the night as well as a Kh-59 cruise missile and a SU-34 fighter bomber.
On February 17, Ukrainian military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Kiev troops had withdrawn from Avdiivka to avoid being surrounded after months of Russian attacks. This was Moscow's biggest advance since its army captured the city of Bakhmut in May 2023.
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