The following consultations between the governments of the Czech Republic and Ukraine, held in the format of a joint meeting, may take place in 2024 of the year. This was announced by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala in an interview with the news agency ČTK.
„I can imagine that such negotiations will take place this year,”, he said. Prague and Kyiv are developing contacts on many levels. “What Ukraine needs first of all are weapons and ammunition,” Fiala said.
He noted that the Czech Republic intends to continue its initiative to purchase artillery shells for Kiev in third countries with funds from Western countries. The main partners of the republic in this matter are Denmark and the Netherlands. “The coalition of these three countries (Denmark, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic) has really done a lot. Without them, this initiative would not have been so successful“, argued the prime minister.
Fiala and ministers from the Czech government held consultations with the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and were received by the President of that country Volodymyr Zelensky on October 31, 2022. Ukraine, as the agency notes, will be able to receive the first batch of shells as part of the Czech initiative in June 2024. Contracts have been concluded for the supply of almost 200 thousand units of ammunition, it is possible to ensure the purchase of another 300 thousand units of projectiles.
Speaking on February 17 at the Munich Security Conference, Czech President Petr Pavel said that his country has found the possibility to purchase hundreds of thousands of artillery shells for the Ukrainian armed forces in third countries, if funds are available. Earlier, the newspaper Politico reported that Prague, unhappy with the failure of the European Union's promises to supply Kiev with 1 million projectiles from March 2023 to March 2024, demanded that Brussels begin buying them for Ukraine around the world, on -especially in the Republic of Korea, Turkey, South Africa. About 20 countries have joined this initiative.
Commenting on the results of his recent visit to the United States and the meeting with American President Joe Biden, Fiala informed that preparations are underway to conclude a memorandum of cooperation between the two countries in nuclear energy.
„We have very intensive cooperation with the US in the field of security”, said the Prime Minister. - Cooperation in energy is developing. We are preparing a joint memorandum of cooperation in nuclear energy. We get safe fuel for our nuclear power plants from the US."
The Prime Minister emphasized the importance for the Czech Republic of the supply of American liquefied gas to Europe, which, according to him, helps to eliminate dependence on the import of this type of energy raw material from the Russian Federation.