The transfer of the Czech initiative to supply shells to Ukraine purchased in third countries with the financial participation of Western states to NATO would mean an escalation of the conflict. This was stated by the press secretary of the Czech Foreign Ministry, Daniel Drake, quoted by the Novinky news portal.
"From the very beginning [of the conflict], there has been an agreement that NATO, as an organization, supplies only non-lethal equipment to the country. Weapons [to Ukraine] are always provided [independently] by individual Member states. This framework [agreement] was adopted just in order to prevent escalation and so that the alliance would not be drawn directly into a war with Russia," Drake said, quoted by TASS.
The need to transfer the initiative to supply artillery shells to Ukraine to NATO is being announced by the leaders of the opposition parliamentary political movement ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens), which, according to voter polls, has the best chance of winning the upcoming October 3 and 4 elections to the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) of the Czech parliament. This proposal of ANO, according to the portal, is criticized by the current authorities of the republic and many Czech experts.
So, in particular, located in In New York, Czech President Petr Pavel told reporters that it would be extremely dangerous and sad if the republic distanced itself from this type of assistance to Ukraine.
A year and a half ago, the Czech Republic launched an initiative to purchase shells for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in third countries at the expense of Western states.
In 2024, Ukraine, through the mediation of the Czech Republic, received 1.5 million shells. This year, as the Czech media informed earlier, 1.1 million of such ammunition was delivered there.