Foreign Ministers of Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia Arrive in Kyiv

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia Ivan Korčok arrived in Ukraine at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba. The diplomats announced the start of the visit on Twitter, noting that “Ukraine’s sovereignty is a matter of security” for their countries.

“Joint trip of the Slavkov Foreign Ministers to Ukraine. Sending a strong signal of Central European solidarity with the Ukrainian people. After all, Ukraine‘s sovereignty is also a matter of our own security,” Schallenberg posted.

As Korčok underscored, this is a joint visit “to express solidarity with Ukraine and get a grasp of the situation on the ground.”

This is the first-ever visit of the Slavkov format foreign ministers to Kyiv, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine noted.

During the visit, the ministers intend to visit the Joint Forces Operation area and hold talks with the Ukrainian counterpart.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s chief diplomat Dmytro Kuleba said that the partners had delivered more than 1,000 tonnes of defensive weapons and military equipment to Ukraine in recent weeks. According to him, the record high support strengthens Ukraine’s position at the negotiating table, while the key topic of the current international politics is to prevent another wave of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

As a reminder, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will visit Ukraine on February 7-8.

Bohdan Marusyak