UPDATE 2 - In Kyiv, Czech, Ukrainian premiers hold talks in wake of fresh missile attacks

UPDATEW WITH MORE REMARKS BY UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – On a visit to Ukraine for talks with senior officials, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala met his counterpart Denys Shmyhal in the capital Kyiv on Monday in the wake of missile attacks on Kyiv and multiple regions.

“Glad to welcome Petr Fiala and the Czech government representatives in Kyiv! Today we held a joint intergovernmental consultation between Ukraine and the Czech Republic. We are deepening our partnership. Thank you for your support and solidarity with Ukraine,” Shmyhal posted on Twitter following the meeting.

Later, Shmyhal announced that memorandums were signed by the two delegations, with the intention to “support the Ukrainian economy and deepening dialogue.”

“In a joint statement, they called for increased sanctions pressure on Russia and increased aid to Ukraine. I am grateful to the Czech Republic for its willingness to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine,” Shmyhal added.

Earlier, Fiala arrived in Kyiv with a ministerial delegation as nationwide air alerts were declared and critical infrastructures were hit.

“We are in Kyiv, which faced Russian missile attacks this morning as well. We have a series of negotiations with Ukrainian friends. I believe they will bring concrete results,” the Czech premier said on Twitter.

Fiala added that Ukrainians fight “not only for their country, but for the whole of Europe,” adding that support for them “must continue.”

Blasts were heard across multiple regions in Ukraine, including Kyiv, in addition to a nationwide air raid alert declared by local authorities, excluding the region Crimea which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Officials in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovograd, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions reported explosions caused by the Russian strikes in statements on Telegram.

Meanwhile, local authorities in the Mykolaiv and Lviv regions reported that the fragments of missiles struck by air defense systems landed on civilian infrastructure or in open areas.

On March 15, just weeks after Russia’s war on Ukraine began, Fiala visited Ukraine along with the prime ministers of Poland and Slovenia, expressing the EU’s support for Ukraine.

During that visit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the arrival of the premiers in Kyiv, as Russia continued its attacks on the capital, as a “great, brave, correct, and sincere step.”