Slovakia to provide Ukraine with equipment to construct defense lines
Photo: Robert Fico and Denys Shmyhal (t.me/Denys_Smyhal)
Slovak private companies will supply Ukraine with engineering equipment for the construction of defense lines, including armored excavators and demining machines, says Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal during a briefing in Uzhhorod.
According to the head of the Ukrainian government, the country is currently building a "massive three-tier defense line."
"This is protection on all fronts. Our government has allocated tens of billions of hryvnias for this," Shmyhal noted.
He emphasized that such defense measures would allow Ukraine to "both deter the enemy and advance."
"We need a significant additional amount of engineering equipment. With Prime Minister Fico of Slovakia, we have agreed to cooperate on the supply of such equipment from the Slovak Republic, from Slovak companies," the official said.
Shmyhal added that Slovak private companies would supply Ukraine with armored excavators and demining machines based on the T-72 tank.
"Separately, I note that Slovakia has already decided to supply two demining machines 'Bozhena-4' so that our sappers can perform the necessary work in the de-occupied part of the Kherson region," the Prime Minister stated.
Slovakia's position on defense assistance to Ukraine
It is worth noting that earlier, Slovakia's new Prime Minister, Robert Fico, stated that Bratislava would not support providing military assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
Later, Slovakia provided an excuse for refusing defense assistance to Ukraine, claiming that it could no longer provide assistance as it needed to preserve its own defense capability.
On November 8, 2023, Slovakia's new government refused to provide Ukraine with another (14th) package of military assistance totaling 40.3 million euros, which was approved by the previous Ministry of Defense of the country.
The Fico government indicated that Ukraine had received 13 packages totaling 671 million euros. In addition to military assistance, the previous government offered humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and fuel.
It is also worth mentioning that Slovakia's new Prime Minister previously stated that he had no intention of hindering the export of private defense companies.
Earlier today, the Speaker of the Slovak Parliament, Peter Pellegrini, announced that the country would continue to implement private contracts in the military sphere. However, Slovakia would not send military aid to Ukraine from its army's warehouses.
