As he continues a tour of several NATO states to raise support behind his country’s bid to join the alliance, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at capital of Slovakia, Bratislava and met with Slovakia’s President Zuzana Caputova on Friday, July 7, 2023.
Zelenskyy’s visit to Slovakia was at Caputova’s invitation. The Slovak President is among the most determined supporters of Ukraine among European leaders.
Last year, Caputova called for clear EU accession prospects for Ukraine. She has been to Kyiv twice since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion and, together with Zelenskyy, has visited places where the brutality of the Russian war was particularly evident.
Slovakia is one of the few allies to provide fighter jets to Kyiv, handing over 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 planes this year.
Speaking at a press conference with President Zuzana Caputova after the meeting, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Slovakia for its support and said the two leaders discussed defence cooperation.
In a post on Twitter, Zelenskyy noted in Ukrainian, “Today we are in Slovakia – we work for the interests of our peoples, and we really thank all the people of Slovakia for their support.”
“Now, of course, the first priority is security, the protection of our common values, which make Europe Europe,” the tweet read.
“With President Zuzana Caputova, we discussed our defence and foreign policy cooperation in quite detail: very specific projects, very specific things that really help here and now. Ukraine and Slovakia are definitely stronger today.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
At the news conference, Zelenskyy stated that he expects unity among NATO member states at next week’s summit in Vilnius, adding that he wanted concrete steps in Ukraine’s path to joining the alliance.
The Ukrainian leader iterated that he expects the NATO summit to discuss more defence packages for Kyiv and security guarantees.
Caputova said that NATO’s summit next week should give Ukraine a clear view of future membership in the alliance.
The Slovak President averred that Ukraine’s membership was a question of “when”, not “if.”
Slovakia, Ukraine To Jointly Produce Ammunition
According to Slovak President, Zuzana Caputova, Slovakia and Ukraine will jointly develop a new type of howitzer and produce ammunition.
Caputova added that Slovakian enterprises will also help Ukraine carry out mine clearance.
Also, Zelenskyy confirmed the signing of the contract for the production of Zuzana 2 howitzers, adding that the two countries were already working on joint production.
Ukraine is ready to purchase Slovakian equipment for mine clearance and jointly establish new production facilities, Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian President arrived in Slovakia after talks in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria over the past two days, and he is expected to travel to Turkey later on Friday.
Zelenskyy is set to hold talks with Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Zelenskyy’s meeting with Erdogan is deemed to focus on an expiring deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea as well as next week’s NATO summit.
Both Zelenskyy and Erdogan want to extend a United Nations and Turkey-brokered deal with Russia under which Ukraine has been allowed to ship grain to global markets during the war.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov disclosed that Russia will “closely follow” upcoming talks between Zelenskyy and his Turkish counterpart, describing their meeting in Istanbul as “important.”
“We will very closely follow the results of these talks,” Peskov told reporters. “It will be interesting for us to find out what was discussed. It’s important,” he added.
