The Czech Republic's Security Council will discuss the future of the Czech-led and Western-funded initiative to supply artillery ammunition to Ukraine on January 7, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said on Monday, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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The initiative brings together foreign donors, including Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, with Czech defense officials, traders and arms manufacturers who purchase ammunition worldwide and supply it to Ukraine, the publication writes.
Babiš, who came to power last week and promised to cut Czech financial aid to Ukraine, has criticized what he calls a lack of transparency in the initiative. But he has not taken a clear stance on its future since his populist ANO party won the election in October, the publication notes.
Czech President Petr Pavel, Prague's NATO allies and Ukraine have praised the scheme, while Babiš's pro-Russian coalition allies oppose it, the publication writes.
"In principle, the ammunition initiative was certainly a good thing, the question is whether it happened without corruption," Babiš said at a press conference after a government meeting on Monday.
"This will be discussed at the State Security Council on January 7," he said, adding that he would propose a final position without going into details.
A senior NATO military official last week expressed cautious optimism about the continuation of the initiative. He said that 1.8 million artillery shells would be delivered this year – 43% of the total number of ammunition supplied to Kyiv.
Donors have provided about $4.5 billion to pay for ammunition supplies under the scheme, while the Czech national contribution is tens of millions of euros, the publication writes.