2024-08-20 15:57:00
As part of sanctions against Russia since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has frozen about €200 billion ($221.5 billion) in assets of the Russian Central Bank. To date, these frozen assets have accrued about €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) in interest. According to today’s statement, most of these funds were allocated to a central fund to purchase weapons for Ukraine, which will allow the Czech Republic to continue supplying ammunition to Ukraine.
Czech Defense Minister Jana Chernochová called the initiative “ Unique opportunity to quickly and effectively support Ukraine with funds originally belonging to Russia ”, she explained at a press conference in Prague on Tuesday:
« It was based on the success of this initiative that the EU approached us a few weeks ago with the intention of using the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to purchase ammunition for Ukraine. »
Military support since the invasion began
The Minister also pointed out that these will be “Hundreds of thousands of rounds of large-caliber ammunition” It will therefore be delivered The next few months “. Thus, the Czech Republic’s unwavering support for Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict has paid off. According to data provided by the Ministry of Defense as of May 31, 2024, the country has provided significant military support: 8 aircraft, 62 tanks, 131 armored vehicles, 26 chemical reconnaissance vehicles and 16 air defense systems.
In addition, the Czech Republic provided 13 howitzers, 12 rocket launchers, 4,900 rockets, 645 anti-tank missiles and 8,022 rocket-propelled grenades. The total value of this aid is estimated at 6.75 billion crowns (288 million U.S. dollars). However, Jana Chernochová admitted in a July interview that her country’s stock of military equipment is running out. However, she assured:
« Since we are receiving Western military hardware to replace Eastern technology, we still have resources available. »
Goal: Provide 800,000 rounds of artillery shells to Kiev
The Czech Republic also supports an international initiative to procure artillery shells for Ukraine outside Europe. In June, the first batch of 50,000 shells was delivered under the program. Currently, the effort is supported by 18 countries, including Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, and has raised about $1.8 billion to purchase a total of 500,000 shells by 2024.
The government does not intend to stop there. The goal is to deliver 800,000 shells to Ukraine. Jana Chernochová stressed the need for more donors last July.
« We need more donors. We know the ammunition is available. »
Without providing specific details about the frozen Russian assets, she then added that the Czech Republic still knew of potential sources of ammunition that it could buy and send to Ukraine.
International Support
The Czech move highlights the challenges the EU faces in fulfilling its commitment to military support for Ukraine. The EU pledged to supply Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells by the end of March. However, difficulties related to production capacity have prevented this goal from being achieved. Despite this, member states continue to support Kyiv through shipments of weapons and ammunition as well as financing agreements.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed the importance of maintaining European support in late June.
« It is very important for all of us in Europe that European support for Ukraine remains at an adequate level, including our defence against Russian terror. “, he said.
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