Ukraine must gain ground in 2023 to secure leverage in future peace talks- Czechia's Pavel
The starting point for future negotiations with the Kremlin will be what Ukraine will achieve on the front by the end of this year, the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel expressed this opinion at the NATO summit, The New York Times reports.
- Subscribe to LIGA.net in English on Twitter
The Czech leader believes that the window of opportunity for achieving results on the front for Ukraine "will more or less close by the end of this year" in view of the upcoming presidential elections in the United States and other countries, due to which allies may not be ready to maintain the current level of support.
He also expects that by next year we should expect a "another decline of willingness to massively support Ukraine with more weapons."
"Whatever is achieved by the end of this year will be the baseline for negotiation," Pavel argued.
The newspaper notes that the statement of Pavel, a former high-ranking general of NATO, contrasts with the statements of other leaders who believe that military support for Ukraine will continue at the previous level in the foreseeable future.
On July 5, 2023, a White House representative said that NATO member states would decide on Ukraine's membership when it "meets all the requirements and carries out the necessary reforms." The Foreign Ministry reacted and called on the West to reform its attitude toward Russia.
John Kirby, the spokesperson for the White House's National Security Council, also said that the NATO summit in Vilnius should not be seen as a "decision point" on specific weapons systems.
Ukraine’s spy chief Kyrylo Budanov said that the expectations of Ukrainian society from the NATO summit "will not be met" and that Ukraine will not be invited to join the Alliance during the event.