OUR Czech Republic greatly strengthened them Ukrainian armed forces in recent months, having delivered, among other things, 89 tanks, Prime Minister Petr Fiala emphasized today after a meeting of the leaders of the “Bucharest Nine” (nine Eastern European countries that are members of NATO) and President USA, Joe Bidenin Warsaw.

During that meeting, the US president pledged to “protect every inch of NATO” to reassure allies in the eastern wing of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization almost a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.

Prague was one of the first and most ardent supporters of Kyiv.

Speaking about Czech military assistance for the first time, Fiala said that his country had supplied Ukraine with 226 armored fighting vehicles, 38 self-propelled howitzers, 33 multiple launch rocket systems, six air defense systems and four helicopters. According to the Czech Prime Minister, the cost of Czech military assistance to Ukraine is estimated at about 40 billion crowns (1.7 billion euros).

The US Embassy in Prague announced last week that the US will support the Czech Republic with $200 million to upgrade and replace weapons systems supplied to Ukraine.

At the same time, the Czech Republic is receiving Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany as part of an exchange program that allows the supply of tanks to Ukraine.

Prague also agreed to repair armored vehicles for the Ukrainian army in order to intensify its fight against the Russian occupiers.

“Ukraine is exercising its legitimate right to self-defense against Russian aggression, to regain full control over its territory. We will continue to support Ukraine’s efforts in this direction for as long as necessary,” the joint statement issued following the meeting in Warsaw says. .

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}