President of Czech Republic: Only Ukraine and Russia can talk about "war fatigue"

The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that European countries should not talk about "war fatigue" at the moment because he believes that only Ukraine and Russia have the right to do so. He also noted that the failure to provide Ukraine with all the necessary weapons was one of the reasons why the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces did not bring the expected results. He said this in an interview with the French publication Le Monde.

"Honestly, only Ukraine and Russia can talk about "war fatigue". In our countries we can say that we have become accustomed to this war, but not that we are "tired". Our cities are not bombed, our citizens are not killed," he said.

Pavel believes that the only "burden" of European countries in terms of helping Ukraine is "is accepting refugees and a certain loss of comfort", but they "do not feel suffering".

At the same time, the Czech president emphasized that if some politicians are "so irresponsible that they use inflation or rising energy prices to turn voters against aid to Ukraine," then Europe "will have problems."

"We must have the courage to tell our fellow citizens that helping Ukraine is in our interest," Pavel said.

He attributes the fact that the Ukrainian counteroffensive did not bring the expected results, first of all, to the fact that the partners "reluctantly supplied" modern equipment and weapons to Ukraine, and some elements "arrived later."

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"When Ukraine launched a counteroffensive, the balance of power did not allow for quick success," he said, while emphasizing that what the Ukrainians managed to do with the available resources "can't help but cause admiration."

Among the reasons, Pavel mentioned that the equipment was often not in warehouses, that the economies of European countries and their defense industries work in peacetime mode, so when the EU promised a million ammunitions, no steps were taken to increase their production.

He also noted that for security reasons, countries wanted to preserve certain state-of-the-art technologies to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Russians.

In addition, the Czech president expressed his disappointment that, due to Hungary's position at the EU summit, the review of the EU budget with the aim of providing Ukraine with financial aid in the amount of 50 billion euros over four years was blocked.

He emphasized that when European countries "believe that the war in Ukraine is an evil against the rule of law, that it is attacking the foundations of our societies, we must support this country whether we like it or not."

"Not out of love for Ukrainians, but in defense of our way of life. If Russia wins, it will be a threat to our own security, our future," the head of the Czech Republic explained.

On November 28, 2023, the Czech president said that Western partners had failed to fulfill their promise to provide weapons for Ukraine's offensive.

Pavel also said that the winter would be difficult due to the destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, and that Russia had put its industry on martial law. He believes that 2024 will be more difficult than the current year in Russia's war against Ukraine.

On December 18, the Czech president said that in 2024 there will be a "significant shift" in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but not for the better for Ukraine and its allies.