Slovenia has joined a Czech-led initiative to buy artillery ammunition for Ukraine outside Europe. The government will allocate €1 million for this purpose, the Defence Ministry told the Slovenian Press Agency on 18 March.

The government discussed the Czech initiative at its session last week, according to the ministry's post on X. The ministry would not provide any further details, citing the confidentiality of the documents.

Czech national security adviser Tomaš Pojar told Reuters last week that Ukrainian troops would start getting the ammunition by June at the latest.

The Czech Republic proposed buying ammunition for Ukraine outside Europe last month since the EU lacks ammunition production capacities.

According to the Brussels-based news portal Euractiv, more than 15 countries are willing to finance the purchase, not only EU countries but also Canada.

The Czech initiative has raised the amount needed for buying 800,000 rounds of ammunition that the country managed to find in unspecified countries outside Europe.

The first batch of 300,000 artillery shells has already been confirmed, while an additional 200,000 are expected to follow, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has said on X.