Czech Republic to seek more Ukraine ammunition contributions, minister says
PRAGUE (Reuters) -The Czech Republic will at some point seek more contributions to its initiative to source ammunition supplies for Ukraine from around the world, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Friday, adding that NATO needed to send Russia a strong message.
Prague said this week that it had contributions of more than 1.6 billion euros and that could cover half a million shells this year for Ukraine as it fights Russia's invasion.
Lipavsky was hosting other foreign ministers from NATO on Friday for an informal meeting where they will discuss ways to put military aid for Ukraine on a more solid long-term footing and hammer out details before the alliance's July summit.
"I fully agree with (NATO Secretary General Jens) Stoltenberg calling for sustainability and definitely our initiative fits into that," he said.
He said NATO needed a unified strategy in its support for Ukraine, not "ad-hoc solutions".
"We need to send a strong message to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that his calculation on imperialism will not work," he said.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet and Jan LopatkaEditing by David Goodman and Philippa Fletcher)
