Defence Minister: Czechia to train up to 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers on its territory this year

Czechia could train as many as 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers on its territory this year, Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová said in an interview with the Czech News Agency. Unlike some countries which, according to media reports, are considering sending instructors to train soldiers directly in Ukraine as part of an approach initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron, Czechia does not plan to do the same, she said, given the geographical proximity of the military training area in Libavá near Olomouc to Ukraine itself.

In the same interview, she also said that more countries are continuing to express interest in the Czech munitions initiative for Ukraine, in addition to the 15 EU and NATO countries that have so far contributed over 1.6 billion euros, and that she expects the NATO summit in Washington in July to be dominated by the topics of member states' obligations towards the alliance, such as spending at least two percent of GDP on defence, as well as the upcoming US presidential election.