Petr Pavel, president-elect of the Czech Republic, spoke by phone on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who congratulated him on his election and invited him to Kiev. Pavel had previously declared that he would go to Ukraine in the spring together with the president of Slovakia, Zuzana Czaputova.
The details of the conversation are not known. Zelensky wrote on Twitter that he thanked Pavel for the help shown by Czechs Ukraine. In one of his Sunday interviews, the president-elect said that he had assured Zelensky that nothing would change in this regard. He added that he would stick to exactly the same line that the centre-right government of Petr Fiala has been following so far.
Petr Pavel on support for Ukraine
Pavel wants to go to Ukraine after taking office as Czech president and before the North Atlantic Alliance summit to be held in Vilnius in July.
The president-elect stated that it was important for Europe’s security not to limit support for Ukraine. In an interview with Czech public television, he said that withholding aid would mean agreeing to win Russia. He stressed that the way to guarantee greater general security is to return to normal, that is, to restore Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Czech President-elect Petr PavelEPA/MARTIN DIVISEK
According to Pavel, economic sanctions limit Russia’s ability to invest more money in the defense sector, and this may translate into a lack of access to some advanced technologies.
Main photo source: EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK