Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová with her Ukrainian and Czech counterparts, Volodymyr Zelensky (l) and Petr Pavel (r). (source: Facebook/Office of the Ukrainian President)
Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová and her Czech counterpart, Petr Pavel, travelled to Ukraine on Friday, April 28.
The pair promised to make a joint trip to Ukraine shortly after Pavel became the Czech president in early March of this year.
"Our message is clear: we are connected to Ukraine not only by a border and a common past, but also by a common future," the Slovak president said on Friday.
The pro-Ukrainian presidents arrived in the war-torn country shortly after Russia's overnight missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, including its capital Kyiv. It was the first large-scale assault in more than 50 days, The New York Times wrote.
"Tonight's shameful attacks on some Ukrainian cities, including Dnipro or Uman, in which innocent civilians were killed, remind us that we cannot afford to look away," said Čaputová.
On Friday, the presidents visited the towns of Borodyanka and Bucha, which became the symbols of the Russian massacre of civilians. They both laid flowers in the towns. In Kyiv, both leaders laid flowers at the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine before noon. New names are added to the wall every day.
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They also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He thanked the Slovak and Czech people and their leaders for their help in protecting the freedom and life of Ukrainians.
