Talks on new defence deal with US to start in May

Talks on a defence agreement between the Czech Republic and the United States could begin in the second half of next month, the Czech deputy minister of defence, Jan Havránek, said in Washington. Mr. Havránek will head a negotiating team comprising officials from the ministries of defence and foreign affairs and other Czech agencies.

The Czech minister of defence, Jana Černochová, and her US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, discussed plans for a defence cooperation agreement between the two sides in the US capital on Thursday.