Czech President: I don't want to create overly optimistic expectations for peace in 2026, knowing the enemy

Russia is not yet ready to end the war against Ukraine; Kyiv needs greater and faster military support for a peaceful resolution, according to Czech President Petr Pavel, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

"As a former military man, I don’t want to be overly optimistic about this year, knowing what kind of enemy we have against us," he said at the Ukrainian Lunch on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

Pavel recalled how three years ago he also warned against exaggerated optimism regarding the planned Ukrainian counteroffensive.

"My colleagues viewed me with a certain suspicion that I was undermining Ukrainian military morale, but all I did was warning against creating expectations that, if unfulfilled, would lead to disappointment on all sides," the Czech President noted.

He emphasized that he would like Ukraine to live in peace as soon as possible, but this requires a number of very specific steps from its partners.

"First, we will have to expedite the delivery of all necessary military equipment and support to Ukraine to avoid losing more territory and create a favorable situation on the ground," Pavel said.

He added that Russia was insisting on its strategic initiative, but the price for every square kilometre of Ukrainian territory was extremely high, and last month it exceeded the capacity to recruit new soldiers.

According to him, if partners can maintain this support or even increase it, and at the same time be very decisive in strengthening sanctions, especially against the Russian shadow fleet, then the conditions can be created for Russia to understand that it cannot achieve greater success on the front, and the only way is negotiations.

"I’m not sure that Russia is mentally prepared for this, and it is up to all of us, including, first and foremost, the United States, to increase even political pressure on Russia, not Ukraine, because that won’t bring Putin to the negotiating table," the Czech president concluded.