The number of countries participating in the Czech-led initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine has halved since Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš returned to power in December, having promised not to force Czech citizens to pay for Ukrainian weapons, the Financial Times reports, according to UNN.
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According to Czech President Petr Pavel, a former NATO commander, "currently only nine countries are funding this initiative, compared to 18 last year." This trend, the publication writes, raises concerns about burden-sharing and the future of the project, which was launched by the previous pro-European government with strong support from Pavel.
The initiative is still functioning, but the new complexity lies in the fact that only about nine member states are making financial contributions. This initiative supplies Ukrainians with up to 50 percent of all large-caliber ammunition, so in that sense, it cannot be easily replaced by something else
Since 2024, Prague has managed the supply of over 4 million large-caliber artillery shells to Ukraine to help replenish ammunition stocks, the publication notes.
Pavel said the future of the initiative should be among the issues discussed at the NATO summit in Ankara in July.
Pavel's office declined to name the countries that recently withdrew from the initiative. A Western military official stated that Germany and some Nordic countries remain among the participants, but "some countries now find it strange to pay for something that does not even have proper support from the ruling politicians of the lead country."
Babiš separately told the FT that his government prioritizes providing public funds, which are limited, to Czech citizens as households struggle with energy bills following the conflict with Iran, rather than supporting Ukraine. "We don't have the money, so we get money from other countries and then supply [the ammunition]," he said.
Michal Strnad, owner and CEO of CSG, stated that the Babiš administration left the initiative in limbo for several months after taking office, amid "a certain legal issue that the new government did not like, so it took some time to clarify it."
However, Strnad said it is "too early to predict whether Kyiv will receive fewer shells from its Western allies this year, also because some countries may now use alternative channels to supply ammunition to Ukraine."
"Some donor countries essentially said they are no longer interested in funding [the initiative], so they are buying directly from us or from other suppliers," Strnad said. The initiative "is not dead, it is still working, but it is a bit slow."