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During his meeting with Prime Minister Petr Fiala at the White House on Monday, US President Joe Biden praised Czechia's support for Ukraine, especially its efforts to secure ammunition from outside the EU for the invaded country, and stated that he considers it a great ally.

For his part, the Czech prime minister described the fact that Czechia and the United States share the same core values of human rights, freedom and democracy as "crucial" for coping with today's challenges such as terrorism, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or the complex situation in the Middle East, adding that security cooperation between democratic countries is a necessity.

Mr. Fiala also praised Biden's role in supporting Ukraine and described the mutual relations between their two countries as "excellent", citing the signing of the Defense Cooperation Agreement last year and Czechia's purchase of US fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets as examples. He also recalled the role of the United States in the creation of the independent state of Czechoslovakia in 1918 and mentioned former US Secretary of State and Prague native Madeleine Albright as examples of the strong links between their two countries.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala kicked off his US trip on Monday with a visit to the CIA headquarters in Virginia, where he discussed the current global security situation with the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, William J. Burns. The heads of all three Czech intelligence services and national security advisor Tomáš Pojar also participated in the meeting.

The prime minister described the morning as having been "very successful" and said the invitation was a sign of the high degree of trust that the US places in Czechia and of the US's appreciation of the cooperation between the two countries in the field of security.

Mr. Fiala is in the United States on a two-day visit, the highlight of which is a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský summoned the Iranian ambassador to Czechia, Seyed Majid Ghafeleh Bashi, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday over the latter country's attack on Israel at the weekend, during which more than 300 drones and missiles were fired by the Islamic Republic. Mr. Lipavský wrote on social media site X that the Czech foreign ministry had clearly communicated to the Iranian government that the attack on Israel had crossed a line and that the regime was purposefully threatening the security of the region with the tacit approval of its ally, Russia.

Saturday's attack was reportedly in retaliation for an airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that was attributed to Israel. The airstrike did not cause much damage, but it significantly increased tensions in the already troubled region.

Construction of the new tram line in the upper half of Wenceslas Square leading towards the National Museum will begin on June 29 this year, Jan Šurovský, the technical director of the Prague public transport company DPP, announced at a press conference on Monday. Trams will not run through the square between Vodičková and Jindřišská from this date until September 30. The construction work is expected to last three years and to cost CZK 1.24 billion.