Canada has signaled its readiness to support the Czech Republic’s plan to urgently transport tens of thousands of shells from various countries to Ukraine.
Details are still being worked out, but defense officials say the federal government could contribute up to $30 million to the plan, which was proposed by Czech Republic President Petr Pavel at the start of the Munich Security Conference. .
Pavel’s government announced that it had been able to procure up to 800,000 NATO standard caliber shells, along with other caliber shells, from an unidentified non-NATO country. It says it needs financial support to deliver ammunition to Ukraine.
Defense Minister Bill Blair said Canada is in talks with the Czech side but would not discuss details.
“I have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Czech Republic, one of our European allies, on the acquisition of the munitions that the Czech Republic currently has. This will allow Ukraine to have faster access to weapons. We will ramp up our own production,” Blair said Monday after Canada announced it would provide hundreds of drones to the Ukrainian military.
Meanwhile, Canada’s allies are concerned that Ottawa could choose to invest in military production through the Czech Republic while continuing to hold off on increasing domestic arms manufacturing capacity, a defense source familiar with the filing said. officials, but said they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair said: “I hope to make further comments in the not-too-distant future about how we are investing in expanding Canada’s military production.”
The Liberal government has been considering proposals for several months from two domestic ammunition manufacturers, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GDOT) of Valleyfield, Kennedy. IMT Defense, Ingersoll, Ont. — Increase production of the so-called “practical” or M795 version of the NATO standard 155-millimeter artillery shell.
Canada currently produces about 5,000 rounds of the M107 version, known as “training rounds,” each month.
Defense Minister Bill Blair announced that the Ukrainian government will send more than 800 military drones to Ukraine, amid growing concerns that Kiev is stuck in a war zone and can no longer rely on U.S. support.
Defense officials say the federal government’s reluctance to expand munitions manufacturing is partly related to the projected $400 million investment needed to build additional production lines. It states that
Deputy Defense Minister Bill Matthews said Canada and the United States held bilateral talks on how to increase arms supplies to Ukraine, but those talks quickly turned to how to replenish domestic military stocks depleted through donations. He said the matter had developed into a wide-ranging discussion.
In a speech Monday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a lack of ammunition was one of the reasons his troops had to withdraw from the eastern stronghold of Avdiivka over the weekend.
“They (Russians) are taking advantage of the delay in aid to Ukraine,” Zelensky said, referring to the impasse in the US Congress over $60 billion in military and economic aid.
![A soldier fires a gun from above a military vehicle.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6999369.1697578769!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/russia-ukraine-war.jpg)
He said the Ukrainian military is acutely aware of the lack of artillery, air defense systems and long-range weapons in Avdiivka. At Avdiivka, the Ukrainians fought a fierce Russian attack for four months despite being vastly outnumbered and outnumbered.
In Munich, Pavel said the Czech Republic had managed to find around 800,000 artillery shells of NATO and Soviet-era calibers that could be transported to Ukraine within weeks.
He said his country’s representatives had found about 500,000 155-millimeter shells and 300,000 122-millimeter shells overseas.
![A bearded man in a suit gets out of the car.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7120440.1708466128!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/france-czech-republic.jpg)
Citing confidentiality, he declined to reveal the countries supplying the ammunition, but said the ammunition could be sent to Ukraine within weeks if funding is quickly secured through partner countries.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in a letter to the European Union that the country needs about 200,000 155-millimeter shells every month. He also called on the EU to deliver on the 1 million shots it promised nearly a year ago.
The Czech proposal to obtain ammunition from countries outside NATO has been discussed privately for several weeks. According to Politico, Prague submitted a proposal similar to the one that surfaced last weekend at an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels on January 31, 2024. The proposal called for the procurement of 450,000 shells.
At the time, EU foreign policy representative Josep Borrell specifically mentioned South Korea as a potential military resource.
NATO defense ministers spent much of last week’s meeting addressing the slow pace of their allies’ military production.
![NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (right) greet after a joint press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 20, 2023.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6817574.1682034460!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/russia-ukraine-war-nato.jpg)
“The impact of the fact that the United States has not been able to make a decision is already visible, but I am hopeful that the United States will be able to make a decision and that Congress and the House of Representatives will agree.” [to] Our continued support for Ukraine,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
“Because if we allow it. [Russian President Vladimir] If Putin wins, it will not only be bad for Ukrainians, a tragedy for Ukrainians, but it will also be dangerous for us.”
Christine Cianfarani, president of the Canadian Defense and Security Industry Association, said Canada’s donations of equipment and supplies to Ukraine are ad hoc and random.
She said she’s concerned about politics taking over the debate in this country, just as it is in the United States.
“We’re seeing these things become a wedge issue…Ukraine is becoming a wedge issue,” Cianfarani said. “And it’s very sad to see that.
“I have talked to many Ukrainian officials, many people, even colleagues in the Ukrainian defense industry, and I have sat across the table from someone who is literally begging for ammunition to do the right thing. When you have to quantify your emotions, it’s really important. ”