Germany and the Czech Republic are preparing an agreement on a ring exchange of heavy military equipment, in the course of which the Czech army will hand over Warsaw Pact-era weapons to Ukraine and be equipped with Western technology in return.

This was announced by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz after their first meeting in Berlin.

Scholz said, "we can help the Czech army keep its strength."

Johannes Leithauser

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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The Czech Republic was among the first countries to provide ammunition and military equipment to Ukraine before and after the war began.

Fiala spoke of a "very useful dialogue with Scholz and pleaded for an increase in the "quality" in the political relations between the two countries.

He was received in Berlin with military honors.

The Czech Prime Minister also had a talk with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier there.

Six weeks ago, Fiala, along with the heads of government of Poland and Slovenia, was one of the first European heads of state to travel to Kyiv by train after the Russian attack.


Fiala and Scholz also discussed the content of the planned new EU sanctions package against Moscow.

In the current round of sanctions, Prague, unlike the neighboring countries Slovakia and Hungary, has not publicly spoken out skeptically or even negatively against a planned oil embargo, although the Czech dependence on Russian oil and gas is not much less than that of the two neighboring countries.

As landlocked countries, all three are dependent on the energy supply via pipelines and cannot import oil or liquid gas via their own seaports.

Even before the Russian attack, Prague had been pushing for the expansion of an oil pipeline that would lead from Italy via Austria to Bavaria and which could also supply the Czech Republic with sufficient crude oil in the future.


Fiala now said he was pleased that he was able to reach an agreement with Scholz "to talk about concrete cooperation" in the supply of oil and gas.

This applies not only to the expansion of the TAL oil pipeline, but also to the Czech government's desire to participate in planned liquid gas terminals on the German North Sea coast.

It is the common intention to end dependence on Russian energy imports as quickly as possible.

Scholz said that they were in the process of "establishing crisis prevention in the energy supply together with the Czech Republic".

A joint working group is to make suggestions.