The President of the Czech Republic said that Ukraine can continue to count on Czech support
Ukraine can continue to count on the full support of the Czech Republic. This was announced on July 6 on Thursday evening by Czech President Petr Pavel.
"The Czech Republic was one of the first to come to the aid of Ukraine. We will continue to provide such comprehensive support to the Ukrainian people in the future," he said at a press conference after talks with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky who arrived in Prague.
According to the Czech president, the total assistance to the Ukrainian state totaled approximately 45 billion crowns (about $2 billion). Having given these figures, he combined all the assistance provided to Ukraine not only by the government and individual ministries, but also by public and non-governmental organizations, firms and enterprises, as well as individual citizens of the Czech Republic.
"We have provided a total of 676 units of heavy equipment and vehicles. — Ed.) Air defense, 4.2 million units of medium-caliber and large-caliber ammunition, or, for example, 380 thousand artillery shells. The Czech government has provided 1.5 billion crowns (about €63 million — Ed.) for humanitarian aid," the Czech leader said.
According to him, the upcoming NATO summit, which will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12, will record support for Kiev, which will also be expressed financially in the amount of €500 million, including €5 million from the Czech state.
"It is in the Czech Republic's interests that Ukraine, when the war is over, start negotiations on joining NATO," Pavel stressed, noting that the country will try to agree on the beginning of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union by the end of 2023.
The Czech President said that next week a delegation of Czech experts will visit Ukraine, where they will discuss the possibilities of expanding further cooperation with the Ukrainian state. He also noted that the current Ukrainian leader became the first president of Ukraine in the last 14 years to visit the Czech Republic.
Earlier in the day, the Finnish Defense Ministry announced that the country would transfer the 17th package of military assistance to Ukraine. The delivery will include anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition. The cost of the package is estimated at €105 million. The total amount of military aid amounted to €1.2 billion.
Also on this day, Reuters reported that on July 7, the US administration will announce another package of military assistance to Ukraine, which will include cluster munitions. It is expected that the cost of the package will exceed $500 million.
On July 4, it was reported that the German authorities in the first half of 2023 allowed Kiev to supply weapons worth € 1.65 billion, which automatically made Ukraine its largest recipient. According to Sven Gigold, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection of Germany, these data "demonstrate the continued support of Ukraine from Germany."
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Kiev against the background of the Russian Federation's special operation to protect Donbass, the decision on which was made after the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
