The elected President of the Czech Republic, ex-NATO General Petr Pavel believes that the Alliance should consider Ukraine’s membership immediately after the end of the war on its territory.
Source: Pavel c interview To the public
Direct speech: “From the point of view of international law, as soon as Ukraine becomes a member of NATO, while still in conflict, the Alliance will become a party to this conflict. One can only imagine how large-scale the conflict between NATO and Russia will be then, most likely, even with the use of nuclear weapons. Therefore, we need to wait for the end of the war and the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty, and here the question of NATO membership will arise.
And at this stage, I would support him, because I think Ukraine deserves to be considered as a new member of NATO – for upholding standards, for protecting values that are important to all of us. And the Ukrainian military will be perhaps the most experienced of all, and would be a great advantage for the NATO countries. So, there are all the reasons why we should consider Ukraine’s NATO membership immediately after the war.”
Details: Recalling the Munich Security Conference, Pavel noted that most of the discussions there “were too optimistic” about the war in Ukraine.
“There was a certain disregard for possible negative impacts. I agree, one should have good hopes. But it is much better to think about the potential worse outcomes. So I said: let’s do everything for Ukraine to win this year, but let’s also be ready for other possible results. One of them could be a longer war. Some scenarios could be that Ukraine – not only the people, but also the political leadership, realizes that the benefits from the return of the entire territory will come at too high a price, for example, in the form of human lives ” , – he said.
At the same time, Pavel stressed that he does not call for pushing Ukraine into concessions.
“It’s much easier to tell you: you must adhere to the principles to the last drop of blood. It sounds good, but it’s not my blood, but yours. Therefore, I say, it’s up to you. “There are real chances of winning. Therefore, I say: we support Ukraine by all means, but let’s be realistic and leave the decision to the Ukrainians regarding the conditions under which you are ready to start negotiations,” he explained his position.
Commenting on the peace plan of President Volodymyr Zelensky, which provides for the complete restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Pavlo expressed the opinion that Zelensky “has no other choice.”
“Can you imagine the leader of a country that has been subjected to aggression and who would say: “Well, let’s put up with the loss of territory.” Therefore, it is natural that President Zelensky sets himself the goal of freeing the entire territory. This is normal. when it suddenly turns out that the reality is different from what we would like, perhaps there will be some adjustments. But they can only be made by the Ukrainian people and your leader, and not by us,” he said.
What came before: February 18 at the Munich Security Conference Pavel too old from such a victory for Ukraine, which will destroy the Russian Federation.
This statement prompted a response from Dmitry Kuleba and several European leaders who responded to their Czech counterpart on hints about concessions to Ukraine in the war.
After that, Pavel said that he still considers Ukraine’s victory in the war to be real.
