Kiev, April 28, (dpa/GNA) – New Czech President Petr Pavel and his Solvakian counterpart Zuzana Čaputová arrived in Kiev on Friday for a joint visit, the CTK and TASR news agencies reported.
The two heads of state plan to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with a series of other engagements. The Ukrainian authorities reported several Russian airstrikes in the area around Kiev on Friday morning.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia have been among the most committed political and military supporters of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
Slovakia handed over its own air defence missile system to Ukraine shortly after the start of the war, and a year later was the first EU and NATO country to officially confirm that fighter jets had been delivered. Since then, both countries have supplied Ukraine with tanks and other armaments.
Čaputová visited Ukraine at the end of May 2022 at Zelensky’s invitation and, in addition to Kiev, also visited two liberated cities badly affected by the war. Pavel’s trip to Ukraine is his first since he was sworn in on March 9.
Čaputová highlighted the common ground between Slovakia and the Czech Republic in a Facebook post, writing that their joint visit to Kiev signifies “a new era” of cooperation between the two countries.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia were previously both part of Czechoslovakia, and separated at the turn of the year 1992-93.
GNA