Czech diplomat warns NATO-led ammo transfer to Ukraine could escalate conflict

The Czech Foreign Ministry spokesperson Daniel Drake has cautioned that transferring the initiative to supply Ukraine with ammunition—purchased from third countries with financial support from Western states—to NATO control could escalate the conflict.

"From the very beginning [of the conflict], there has been an agreement that NATO, as an organisation, supplies the country only with non-lethal equipment. Individual member states always provide weapons [to Ukraine] independently. This framework [agreement] was adopted precisely to prevent escalation and to prevent the alliance from being drawn directly into a war with Russia," he said, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Czech news portal Novinky.

The leaders of the opposition parliamentary political movement ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens), which, according to voter polls, has the highest chance of winning the upcoming October 3–4 elections to the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Czech parliament), are calling for the artillery ammunition supply initiative to Ukraine to be transferred under NATO’s control. According to the portal, this ANO proposal is being criticised by the current government and many Czech experts.

In particular, while in New York, Czech President Petr Pavel told journalists that it would be extremely dangerous and regrettable if the country were to distance itself from this type of aid to Ukraine.

By Khagan Isayev