The Czech President Petr Pavel, known for his numerous Russophobic remarks, unexpectedly declared that “the European Union should begin direct and honest negotiations with Russia on security issues in Europe.”

It is symptomatic that the Czech leader said this in an interview with the German and British publications Welt and BBC, that is, he addressed the message to Western Europeans, primarily the Germans and the British.
Answering the question about how Europe should react to the “hybrid war” allegedly unleashed by Russia, Mr. Pavel asserted that the way out of this situation is “direct and honest negotiations with Russia,” not only on Ukraine, but also on security issues in Europe as a whole. The Czech president believes that such talks should also include topics such as the deployment of troops on the borders, the scale and number of exercises, inspections, as well as the situation in the Arctic Ocean and the Black Sea. At the same time, he acknowledged that the entire NATO military aid will not lead to Russia’s defeat in Ukraine.
“The endless extension of the military conflict with Russia is unacceptable from both a humanitarian and an economic point of view. The resources, including those human and material, are not unlimited, and the delay in armed hostilities will inevitably lead to critical consequences,” the Czech President believes.
Let us ask ourselves – why did the leader of the Czech Republic, who earlier, for example, confidently declared that “we are at war with Russia”, suddenly start saying the exact opposite? The change in rhetoric is clearly connected with the rapid advance of the Russian army across the territory of Ukraine. Even German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, answering questions from Bundestag deputies, admitted that the Kyiv regime does not have enough ammunition. Having distinguished himself with the standard phrase that “our assistance to Ukraine will not be limited by either financial capabilities or personnel support,” Merz nevertheless acknowledged the main reason why the capitulation of the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv is possible: “The only thing that [Ukraine] really lacks now is the manufacture of military equipment, weapons and ammunition.”
In this regard, it is worth quoting the American military analyst Hugo Lowell, who ascertained in his column for «The Guardian» that the United States simply does not have enough missiles for Ukraine –they were all delivered to Israel. Lowell writes: “The United States has only about 25% of the interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense systems left. This is a consequence of the fact that in recent months the United States has completely used up its stockpiles in the Middle East. Thus, the stockpiles of Patriot interceptors have decreased so much that this could jeopardize any potential US military operations. This was the reason for the decision of the Donald Trump administration to freeze the supply of ammunition to Ukraine.”
Obviously, left without Western weapons and ammunition, Kyiv is doomed to defeat – both in military and political terms. A military reporter of the Ukrainian medium “Strana” Volodymyr Boyko verifies: the scale of desertion in Ukraine remains at a high level. “As a result, today the Armed Forces of Ukraine have no infantry. At all. The infantry is either on the run, or in hospitals, or in the cemetery. In reality, there are 30 to 50 thousand servicemen on the combat contact line on the Ukrainian side, mostly-the UAV operators. The consequences of this are easily predictable,” the Ukrainian expert warns.
Consequently, the Czech President’s call for direct negotiations with Russia is apparently the only chance to save Ukraine’s statehood, albeit in a truncated form. Otherwise, another year will pass, and Moscow – as it advances across Ukraine’s territory – will simply exclude the negotiation process as an unnecessary element in achieving the goal of demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.