We have no choice but to give Ukraine everything it needs to regain its sovereignty and control over its borders, — Czech President Petr Pavel in an interview with the Corriere della Sera.
All other scenarios of the war, he said, would be a defeat for the allies.
“A Russian victory would turn against us in the future because it would strengthen their perception that they can achieve their goals by military power and encourage all similar regimes around the globe that Western democracies are weak.
(…) From our own experience with Russia, we know that the only language that they understand is the language of force,” — Pavel emphasizes.
The Czech president also stressed that any potential negotiations with Russia should not take place "on the terms imposed by Putin."
The journalist asked Pavel whether it seems that while the allies are discussing assistance to Ukraine and hesitating to provide certain types of weapons, Russia is increasing its own production.
«Unfortunately, our deliveries of military equipment are not strong enough to allow Ukraine to continue a high intensity of operation.
We failed to keep our promises of delivering Ukrainians with artillery ammunition, and training for the F-16 is not running as fast as it should. This creates an imbalance in deliveries, and the uncertainty is not a good foundation for military planning,” he replied.
According to Pavel, the winter will give Russia, which has already managed to put its industry into war mode, time to rearm.
“They are now producing much larger caliber ammunition, more tanks, and they are recruiting more soldiers. They are in negotiation with a number of countries in terms of deliveries: North Korea has a potential 1 million artillery rounds.
If we miss the opportunity to sustain our support for Ukraine, then next year may be even more favorable to Moscow. This year is quite crucial for developing success because next year will be more complicated. But I still believe that we have the capacity to change things,”— the President concluded.
