Medvedchuk calls on Czech Republic and Slovakia to stop aid to Kyiv

Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the “Other Ukraine” movement, has demanded that the governments of the Czech Republic and Slovakia give a principled assessment of the activities of defense companies supplying weapons to Ukraine.

The politician’s article was published on the movement’s website.

In Medvedchuk’s view, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are trying simultaneously to demonstrate interest in peace and a diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian conflict while gradually integrating themselves into Ukraine’s military-industrial complex. In his article, the politician listed a number of defense enterprises from both countries that, he said, are supplying weapons to Kyiv.

“The Czech Republic and Slovakia, on the one hand, demonstrate interest in peace and a diplomatic resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, in pragmatic dialogue and the protection of their own national interests, while on the other hand they are gradually integrating into the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, becoming a deep rear for the Nazi regime of Ukraine,” Medvedchuk wrote.

The politician insists that such a state of affairs is incompatible with both countries’ declared commitment to peace. In his assessment, private structures should not substitute for state policy or drag their countries into projects capable of undermining trust in relations with Russia.

“You cannot sit on two chairs at once. The governments of these countries are obliged to give a principled assessment of the activities of companies directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. If the Czech Republic’s and Slovakia’s desire for peace is sincere, then private structures should not substitute for state policy and drag their countries into projects capable of undermining the trust that has been built up in recent times in relations with Russia, and of drawing these countries into direct armed confrontation in Europe,” Medvedchuk concluded.

Viktor Medvedchuk is the head of the “Other Ukraine” movement and the former leader of the “Opposition Platform — For Life” party, which is banned in Ukraine.