The head of Czech diplomacy, Jan Lipavski, said today after the meeting of the crisis headquarters regarding the crisis over Ukraine that there is no need to evacuate the families of Czech diplomats, as the USA and Great Britain do, and that official Prague still believes in a diplomatic solution with Russia.
Lipavski called on the Czechs not to travel to the eastern and northern regions of Ukraine until further notice, while he himself, together with Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korchok and Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, will visit Ukraine on February 7 and 8, and will also visit the line that divides the pro-Russian separatists. .
"I still believe in a diplomatic solution to the crisis and I support all diplomatic activities. However, they are unsuccessful and Russia continues to intensify its activities. The response must be quick and strong," said the head of Czech diplomacy.
Minister Lipavski specified to the journalist's question that this answer means economic sanctions, and he said that he supports that if NATO requests that the Czech Republic send additional military forces to NATO's eastern flank, to the Baltic republics.
"The decision to donate artillery ammunition to Ukraine is part of international efforts to deter Russia from imagined aggression," Lipavski said at a press conference.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fijala said today in the parliament that the Czech Republic clearly condemns any aggression by Russia, but that escalation of the conflict is not in the interest of the Czech Republic.
"We are faced with one of the biggest threats to European security in the last decade. We all see how Russia is escalating the situation in relation to Ukraine again. The increased presence of Russian armed forces on the border with Ukraine is an unjustified activity," said Fijala.
The Prime Minister of neighboring Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, warned today on Facebook that the worst scenario that Poland warned about is coming true.
"I am worried about the situation in Ukraine, but also the reactions of our neighbors, Germany, to threats from Russia. The withdrawal of consent to the delivery of weapons from Estonia to a country that is preparing to defend itself against aggressors is a big disappointment," Morawiecki said.
The Polish Prime Minister added that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the billions that Russian President Vladimir Putin has invested in Europe, as well as financial "investments" in Western politicians and lobbyists give Putin new tools to terrorize further European countries.
Neither Poland nor the Czech Republic sees the need to evacuate the families of their diplomats from Ukraine, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced earlier.
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