Czech foreign minister visits Ukraine in show of solidarity

The people of Ukraine must have the right to choose freely whether or not they want to belong to the Western fold of nations, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský during a visit to Ukraine on Monday. The Czech foreign minister joined his Slovak and Austrian counterparts on a working visit to Ukraine in a show of support and solidarity for the country as it braces for a possible Russian invasion. During a trip to the so-called contact line, which separates Ukrainian government troops from Russian-backed separatists in Donbas, Jan Lipavsky recalled the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, saying the international community must not allow history to repeat itself.

Before his departure for Ukraine, the Czech foreign minister distanced himself from President Zeman’s words on Sunday in which he downplayed the danger of a Russian invasion. "The Czech government is working with information from its intelligence services and information acquired from the North Atlantic Alliance and we have made our position clear," Lipavský said. At the end of January the Czech government provided Ukraine with over 4,000 artillery shells as part of the country’s support amid looming fears of a Russian invasion.