President-elect Petr Pavel, February 23, 2023.
Prague – According to the incoming president Petr Pavel, Russia, which is crumbling internally, could be even more dangerous than at present because of the conflicts, therefore the solution to the conflict in Ukraine should not lead to the collapse of the aggressor. Pavel said this in today's one-hour online discussion on his Facebook on the topic of the Ukrainian conflict. “A collapsed Russia would be a big problem,” he said, adding that after the conflict, Russia should retain control and be able to lead international negotiations. He reiterated that the negotiations can only begin on the condition that Ukraine gets all of its territory under control by 2014.
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According to him, a major role can be played by China, which is an economic partner of Russia, but has not provided direct military support to Russia in the year since the beginning of the conflict. In this regard, he mentioned some points of China's peace proposal.
In the one-hour discussion, where after a short opening speech he selected from the written questions of the followers, Pavel repeated several times that in order to solve future conflicts, after the end of the conflict, it is necessary to focus on change of the rules of the United Nations so that it is more prepared and capable of action.
Beijing presented the peace plan on Friday in a document called China's position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. Among other things, it encourages both countries to refrain from attacks on the civilian population, calls for the establishment of humanitarian corridors, but also for the end of Western sanctions against Russia. At the same time, China subscribed to the principle of “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries”.
The 12-point document drawn up by Chinese diplomacy was rejected by Kiev if it did not include the withdrawal of Russian troops to the 1991 borders, but at the same time said that it was open to negotiations on some parts of the plan. Moscow, on the contrary, supported him, according to her, Ukraine should come to terms with the “new territorial reality”.
The peace agreement for Ukraine must contain several cornerstones, which, according to Pavle, the Chinese proposal mentions but does not specify in detail, which leads to the fact that both sides interpret it differently. “These building blocks are above all territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders, which in the case of Ukraine means the restoration of control over the entire territory in the territory before 2014, including the eastern Donbass, Crimea, and including the territory that Russia considers to be its own on the basis of falsified referendums. This must be the basic starting point for peace negotiations. We have not yet reached this state, and none of the peace proposals speak of such a thing,” he summarized.
The incoming president stated that at the beginning of the conflict, weapons of Soviet origin were used for Ukraine, which The Czech Republic sent and which the Ukrainians were used to. According to him, the warehouses are now empty, which opens up space for their replenishment with modern technology. According to him, due to the numerical superiority of the Russians, the Ukrainian side needs to compete with the deployment and quality of weapons.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) announced after Wednesday's meeting in Warsaw that the Czech government's military aid to Ukraine has been since the beginning of the Russian invasion ten billion crowns. According to national security adviser Tomáš Pojar, the Czech defense industry sent arms and equipment worth another 30 billion crowns. Last year, the Ministry of Defense provided Ukraine with, among other things, 38 tanks, 55 infantry fighting vehicles (IPVs), four pieces of aviation equipment and 13 self-propelled howitzers.