Lavrov discussed the situation in Ukraine with his American counterpart Antony Blinken today. At the conference, he faced the question of one of the journalists who wanted to know how the head of Russian diplomacy is reacting to the new Czech government’s efforts to improve relations with Moscow, although Prague is also proposing to help increase it.

“As for the new Czech government, we hear what I am saying, we will clarify it when the words are reflected in some concrete proposals, concrete signals to our address,” Lavrov said, referring to recent statements by the head of Czech diplomacy Jan Lipavsky. the Czech Republic will use the “restart” of relations with Russia.

“I can not comment on what our NATO neighbors are doing in relation to Ukraine,” Lavrov said of the possibility of helping military aid to Kiev. “We have warned many times that the only thing the Kiev regime is doing is relying on coverage from its Western sponsors. As soon as this Russophobic hysteria is over, it will all seem obviously unsustainable,” he added.

The new Czech government states in the program statement, among other things, that it will use a “revision” of relations with Russia and China. During his visit to Bratislava last month, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said that relations between the Czech Republic and Russia were at a very low level. “I will deal with how it is possible to restart, to promote. It is a very uncomfortable situation when the executives do not talk to each other,” Lipavský said. Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zakharov subsequently said that it was in Prague’s efforts to do so.

A spokeswoman for the Czech Ministry of Defense, Jana Zechmeisterová, confirmed to the iRozhlas.cz server on Thursday that the ministry wants to support Ukraine with the supply of artillery shells. “Ukraine is a historical partner for the Czech Republic, with which we are developing defense cooperation and supporting its path to democracy. It is therefore only natural that the Ministry of Defense is considering some form of assistance,” she said.

The diplomatic rift between the Czech Republic and Russia, which resulted in a substantial reduction in staff at both embassies, was sparked last spring by information from Czech security forces about the involvement of Russian military intelligence services in the Vrbětice ammunition depots in 2014. Moscow rejected a similar accusations and the Russian government subsequently included the Czechia in the list of “not friendly” countries, in which, in addition to the Czech Republic, only the USA appears.