According to Czech President Petr Pavle, the current situation in Ukraine is turning more in favor of Russia. It is difficult to motivate both sides to negotiate for peace. The West, and especially Europe, must do more and cannot just wait to see how the new administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will behave. Pavel said this on Friday at the beginning of the international conference Prague Defense Summit, reports TASR.
Slow aid allowed Russia to advance
“My point of view is probably less politically correct, but I will say it anyway. From the very beginning, we weren’t doing enough. Only a handful of states – and I am proud that the Czech Republic was one of them – provided Ukraine with everything it needed and that we could give it. But the beginning of the military support was rather slow, and I honestly say that this slow help allowed Russia to advance through Ukrainian territory despite all the problems in command and logistics that they had then,” Pavel pointed out.
According to him, the Western supplies of military material and finances were not enough for Ukraine to win. “So what we saw after that was kind of a stalemate. Now things are turning a bit more in favor of Russia than Ukraine. And in this situation it is difficult to motivate both sides to negotiate,” said the Czech president.
According to him, many countries are now waiting for the new American administration, hoping that Trump will “deliver the change” that he promised when he said that he would end the war within 24 hours. Pavel does not think that this is possible, but at the same time, he believes that Trump will try to end this war and conclude an agreement with Putin. However, according to the Czech president, such an agreement would probably not be in the interest of Ukraine or Europe, as it would probably include the transfer of part of the occupied Ukrainian territory to Russia or the condition for Ukraine that it would not be able to become a member of NATO for at least 20 years.
Also China, India and Europe
Pavel added that any peace agreement, even if it should result in the temporary ceding of some territories to Russia until a diplomatic solution is found in the future, must be concluded with several parties, including China, India and also Europe.
The three-day conference is organized by the British think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Its main topics are the development of the security environment, the development of defense capabilities in Europe, and cooperation between governments and the defense industry.
