Bratislava, 22 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The United States has offered to sell Slovakia military helicopters at a steep discount in light of the fact that the Central European country is donating 13 MiG-29 combat jets to Ukraine.

A decision on whether to accept Washington's overture has not yet been made, Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad on Facebook on Wednesday.

The US offer includes 12 Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters with accessories, pilot and technician training, and 500 AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles.

Nad said that the actual value of all the hardware is over $1 billion, but Slovakia can buy the package for around $340 million in instalments.

There appeared to be broad support for the proposal, with even opposition parties signalling they would back it.

Slovakia's TASR news agency reported that the social democratic ex-prime minister Peter Pellegrini said the offer was "economically advantageous" and would help to modernize the air force.

Pellegrini's centre-left party, like other opposition parties, had previously criticized the fact that the minority government, which had been in office only on an interim basis since a vote of no confidence was lost in December, had decided to hand over the MiG-29 to Ukraine, bypassing parliament.