Czech initiative on shells for Ukraine: Slovakia and Hungary will not join
Kyiv • UNN
Slovakia and Hungary refused to participate in financing a Czech initiative to purchase 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, citing their opposition to the provision of lethal weapons and their belief that the conflict has no military solution.
At a final briefing in Prague on March 21 after a meeting in the Visegrad format, the heads of the foreign ministries of Slovakia and Hungary said they would not participate in financing the Czech initiative to purchase 800,000 artillery shells for the Armed Forces, UNN reports with reference to Radio Liberty.
"Hungary has not provided and will not provide any weapons to Ukraine. We are not involved in any joint efforts that turn into joint arms deliveries. At the same time, we are continuing the largest humanitarian operation in the history of Hungary," said Hungarian Minister Peter Szijjarto.
His counterpart from Slovakia, Juraj Blanar, also spoke out against providing Ukraine with weapons and confirmed that Bratislava would not participate in the Czech initiative and would not send lethal weapons to Ukraine, as they believe "this conflict has no military solution.
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During the Munich Security Conference, Czech President Petr Pavel said that he had found 800,000 shells for Ukraine that could be purchased and delivered to Ukraine within a few weeks, "if only there were funds." According to the Financial Times, Prague sought to raise one and a half billion dollars to pay for the munitions.
About 15 countries have joined the initiative, including Canada, Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden, and Sweden.