Latvia Allocates €10 Million for Czech Initiative on Ammunition Procurement for Ukraine
The Latvian government, in a closed session on the evening of May 14, decided to allocate €10 million for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine as part of the Czech initiative on ammunition procurement. This was announced by Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and Defence Minister Andris Sprūds, as reported by Delfi.
It is noted that the funds allocated by Latvia are intended to purchase over 3,000 large-calibre 155-millimeter shells for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Latvian officials also revealed that besides ammunition procurement, a second batch of drones is scheduled for shipment in June as part of the coalition led by Latvia and the United Kingdom. This batch will include about 1,000 combat drones of varying capabilities.
Defence Minister Andris Sprūds mentioned that Latvia recently sent approximately 100 drones to Ukraine, and coalition member countries have reported funding of over half a billion euros for drone procurement for Ukraine.
Andris Sprūds also reminded that this year and in the next two years, Latvia will provide military support to Ukraine amounting to 0.25% of its gross domestic product. This year, this support will amount to €112 million, the minister recalled.
The Gaze previously reported on a statement by Czech President Petr Pavel, in which he announced that the first batch of shells purchased for Ukraine under the Czech initiative would be delivered in June.
The President of the Czech Republic believes that assistance to Ukraine should be provided promptly and to the fullest extent possible to prevent further loss of territory and human lives.
"Each new stage of aid was accompanied by lengthy discussions before it was finally implemented. If we had missed this period of discussion and risk assessment, Ukraine would have received this assistance months, possibly even years earlier, and the situation could have been different," Petr Pavel noted.
Recall that in mid-April, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that his country had already signed contracts for the supply of 180,000 artillery shells to Ukraine and is currently working on contracting another 300,000. He later stated that potentially, 1.5 million artillery shells could be procured for Ukraine in this manner within a year.