Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis confirmed that his country will not sell L-159 light combat trainer aircraft to Ukraine.
“There is and will not be a sale of L-159s to Ukraine. The matter is closed“, the Idnes news portal quoted Babis as saying. He was responding to the Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Army, General Karel Reka, who told reporters that in his opinion the transfer of four L-159s to Ukraine would not affect Czech security.
On January 16, Czech President Petr Pavel suggested that Kiev buy several L-159s. Subsequently, the ČTK news agency reported that the SPD (Freedom and Direct Democracy) political movement, part of the current Czech government coalition, opposed the sale of the planes to Ukraine, and later the Czech Prime Minister himself stated that they would not be sold.