Slovak President Peter Pellegrini made his first official visit to the Czech Republic and met with President Peter Pavel. They discussed aid to Ukraine and the war.
The Czech publication Pravda writes about it.
The Czech and Slovak sides are trying to restore relations that were disrupted by Russiaʼs war against Ukraine. The current government of Slovakia, headed by Robert Fico, is not positive about helping Ukraine, but the countryʼs president Peter Pellegrini says that the government has not stopped commercial arms supplies to Kyiv and officially supports the restoration of Ukraineʼs territorial integrity.
The Slovak president noted that his country helps Ukraine with electricity and participates in the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition. Slovakia scaled up the production of munitions and their modernization. Most of the projectiles within the framework of the Czech initiative will be produced and processed directly at factories in Slovakia.
Also, according to Pellegrini, Bratislava will agree to NATOʼs plans for further support to Ukraine after the July summit, but will not send Slovak soldiers to Ukraine even for training missions.
The President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel added that some politicians of Slovakia and the Czech Republic emphasize the need to achieve peace, but at the same time say little about supporting Ukraine.
"The current proposals of Russia, if it can be called that, are actually only a demand for the capitulation of Ukraine. This is not a realistic approach to negotiations," Pavel stressed.
The joint press conference of Peter Pellegrini and Peter Pavel is probably a way to adjust bilateral relations between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. One of the public situations that in March 2024 demonstrated the mistrust of the countries was when the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala did not announce the details of the supply of shells to Ukraine to the Prime Minister of Slovakia Fico, because he was afraid that strategic information about ammunition could reach the Russians because, as it is believed, the pro-Russian prime minister of Slovakia.