The United States and the Czech Republic have a historic friendship based on common values and an appreciation of our shared responsibility to uphold the rules-based international order in cooperation with our Allies and partners. This Strategic Dialogue comes at a critical time. It demonstrates the strength and importance of the bilateral relationship as the United States and the Czech Republic focus on the security challenges on the Eastern Flank of NATO due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We underline our commitment to protect and defend every inch of NATO territory. The Czech Republic has renewed its commitment to increase its defense spending to 2% of GDP. A faster pace of modernization of the Czech armed forces is a priority, gaining new capabilities in the cooperation with the United States and Allies.

We stand strong and united in support of the people of Ukraine and the Ukrainian government against Russia’s unprovoked war, which is causing immense human suffering and destruction of civilian infrastructure. We call on Russia to cease its military offensive and completely withdraw its armed forces from the territory of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia and to respect their internationally recognized borders. Beijing’s position on Russia’s war also remains under our close scrutiny. The United States and the Czech Republic agree that the international community must deepen Russia’s political and economic isolation and apply tougher sanctions against enablers of Russia’s aggression. The discussion on Ukraine’s post-war recovery must begin now. We must endeavor to provide Ukraine the political and practical assistance to support and realize its sovereign choice of full integration with Europe and the world’s democracies.

The United States and the Czech Republic emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Czech partnership in addressing common threats and challenges, including in the area of cyber security and resilience to hybrid threats. The Strategic Dialogue focused on reaffirming the strong, steady, and deepening bilateral cooperation between the United States and the Czech Republic and our joint commitment to enhance cooperation on a broad range of topics, including closer cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region. We also affirm our commitment to deepen support and cooperation with democracies in the region, such as Taiwan.

We agree that current geopolitical developments make enhancing energy security more urgent than ever. The United States and the Czech Republic are taking steps to reduce reliance on Russian oil and natural gas by diversifying their sources of energy, expanding our already strong cooperation on nuclear power, and reducing consumption in line with our shared climate goals.

The United States and the Czech Republic consulted on the importance of strengthening transatlantic relations, including cooperation between the United States and the EU, during the Czech Republic’s EU Council presidency in the second half of 2022. Both sides expressed a strong interest in deepening the bilateral strategic partnership in the year ahead and through future strategic dialogues. The parties plan to hold the next annual meeting in Washington in 2023.