Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky arrived in Kyiv for meetings with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha and Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka, according to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service.
The ministers visited the memorial on Independence Square, where Sybiha presented Lipavsky with a medal for supporting Ukrainian diplomacy. "For me it is an honor to receive a medal for supporting Ukrainian diplomacy," the Czech minister said.
During their press conference in Kyiv, both foreign ministers outlined concrete military and political support measures. Lipavsky said that Czech Republic delivered 1.5 million large-caliber ammunition rounds last year through the Czech ammunition initiative.
The Czech ammunition initiative reportedly helped change the Russian advantage from 10 to 1 to 2 to 1. This is a five-fold increase in real potential.
Ukraine expects to receive approximately 1.8 million artillery shells by year's end through this Czech initiative, Sybiha said.
During Lipavsky's meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Kachka, they discussed Ukraine's EU membership prospects.
"Our position is clear — Ukraine should be in Europe, and Czech Republic supports its membership as it meets standard conditions," Lipavsky wrote on X.
Economic cooperation between the two countries continues expanding despite the war, Lipavsky said. Trade growth increased 21.4% last year, and "I think this trend is growing more and more," he added.
The ministers also signed a contract for the "School of Superheroes" project initiated by Prague. "This money will help children with severe forms of disabilities and diseases by expanding school opportunities in the region. We also plan to work more in eastern Ukraine and in the most dangerous regions, because we should not be afraid of Putin, and these regions also need our presence," Lipavsky explained.
The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the symbolic significance of the memorial visit: "The bloody events on the Maidan in 2013 and 2014 took more than a hundred lives. We must remember their fate, as Ukrainians are again dying for their freedom. The foreign ministers of Czech Republic and Ukraine honored their memory on Independence Square — a historical memory."
