Russia has warned the Czech Republic about the inadmissibility of Warsaw Pact arms exports to third countries. This was announced today by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavski to the Czech news agency ČTK, BTA quotes.
He explained that there were no clauses in previous treaties that would prohibit the Czech Republic from exporting weapons from the time before the collapse of the communist bloc in Eastern Europe. The Ministry of Defense in Prague declined to comment on reports that the Czech Republic had delivered dozens of Soviet T-72 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, CTK reports.
Russia has also warned the United States through diplomatic channels that arms supplies from NATO countries to Ukraine could have “unpredictable consequences.” The Ukrainian government has called on countries with heavy Soviet-era weapons to provide it to the Ukrainian army, as its soldiers can handle it without further training.
DPA quotes the disappointment of Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the President of Ukraine, on the slow and insufficient supply of weapons from EU countries. According to him, the weapons that Europe is helping Ukraine with are “not the ones we asked for.” In his Twitter, Podoliak also wrote: “Ukraine needs weapons. Not in a month. Right now.”
Last week, the EU announced that it was adding 500 million euros to the 1 billion euros already allocated for the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces. The money is mainly intended for the purchase of personal protective equipment, first aid kits and fuel, as well as defensive weapons. However, Kyiv has repeatedly stated that its army is in dire need of heavy weapons, such as tanks, aircraft, artillery and air defense systems.