Petr Pavel stated in an interview with the European portal The fact that safety guarantees can be given to Ukraine by "strong coalitions". erstwhile asked if he saw the Czech Republic as part of specified a coalition, the president replied: "We are already part of this coalition."
“And I believe that as shortly as we realize that there is simply a common will to deploy forces, the Czech Republic will be part of this coalition,” Pavel stressed. Commenting on scepticism in the Czech Republic regarding the possible sending of troops to Ukraine, the president noted that "Different politicians can have different views".
Czech Republic ready to send troops to Ukraine. “We do this for ourselves”
— But if there is simply a strong group of European countries that are ready to supply Ukraine specified safety guarantees, I am firmly convinced that the Czech Republic should be 1 of them. I realize it sounds like a cliché, but I honestly believe we're doing this to a large degree for ourselves. “ Pavel said.
According to the Czech President, safety guarantees for Ukraine can consist of 2 elements: agreements on mineral resources with the US and stabilising military forces from European countries.
Speaking of a possible agreement between Ukraine and the US, Pavel noted that due to the presence of American business in Ukraine, "we can anticipate the US to defend these interests."
Czech president on the alleged coalition of strong states
Another component of the guarantee, according to the president of the Czech Republic, will come from European countries that "declared their readiness to support Ukraine". “Now we are talking mainly about the recently created so-called. a coalition of strong states, who can and want to send stabilizing military forces to Ukraine after reaching a peace agreement,” he explained.
When asked why he does not consider Ukraine's membership of NATO as a safety guarantee, Pavel pointed to president Trump's position on the matter. “The American president rejected Ukraine’s fast accession to NATO,” said the Czech president.
At the same time added that do not completely reject this issue. “Let us leave this issue open to the future due to the fact that politicians come and go. In 3 years there will be another government in the United States, and we can see another point of view,” concluded president Pavel.
