MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. Czech President Petr Pavel has acknowledged that he cannot guarantee Prague will continue to provide military aid to Kiev after the parliamentary elections in October.
"I cannot [guarantee that the Czech Republic will keep on providing military assistance to Ukraine], because I do not know what the results of the elections will be, of course. We will hold parliamentary elections, and they may lead to a change of government, and I do not know what the priorities of this new government will be," he said, responding to a question during an interview with the Ukrainian service of the BBC News.
The Czech leader noted that he is currently in discussions on the Ukraine issue with all the leaders of those parliamentary parties that may form the next government. "However, I cannot give any guarantees right now, of course, — much will depend on the elections' outcome," Pavel pointed out.
The Czech Republic is one of the biggest givers of aid to Ukraine. It helped Kiev get about 1.5 million artillery shells of various calibers last year, according to Western news reports. Coming from third countries, these munitions are purchased with Western money.
Pavel announced at a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky in May that Kiev could receive 1.8 million artillery shells by the end of 2025 as part of this initiative. Kiev said that Ukraine and the Czech Republic had agreed to to cooperate on training Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet pilots. Meanwhile, the Czech authorities are debating on increase in defense spending. In February, Prime Minister Petr Fiala proposed raising military expenditures from 2% to 3% of the country's GDP.