Babiš ready to continue Czech Republic's "shell initiative," but only at expense of other countries

Following the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said that Prague will continue to coordinate the initiative to supply ammunition to Ukraine, but will not participate in military missions. The statement was published on the official website of the Czech government.

The Czech prime minister emphasized that his country has certain reservations about certain points of the joint declaration of the allies. The main one concerns the presence of foreign troops: The Czech Republic does not plan to send its military to Ukraine after the war to monitor the peace process or participate in peacekeeping missions.

As for the projectile initiative, Babiš noted that it can only be continued with external funding. He noted that Czech taxpayers' money will not be spent on the purchase of ammunition, and the process should be as transparent as possible.

Despite the fact that the final decision will be made after the National Security Council meeting, the Prime Minister has already confirmed the Czech Republic's readiness to remain the project coordinator:

"Although I still have a meeting of the NSC to learn more details about the munitions initiative, after all the negotiations I have already completed, I have decided, even after agreeing with our coalition partners, that we will not cancel the munitions initiative. The project will continue, and the Czech Republic will act as a coordinator. No money from Czech citizens will be invested in the munitions initiative. The procedure must be transparent and free from corruption," emphasized Andrej Babiš

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Merz is ready to send troops to NATO countries bordering Ukraine.

Witkoff said there was "significant progress" on the peace plan in several areas.