Czech President Petr Pavel has warned against making any concessions to Russia in efforts to resolve the war unleashed by the Kremlin against Ukraine.

Source: Pavel in an interview with The Sunday Times, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Pavel cautioned that a victory for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Ukraine would be a defeat for the entire West.

"If we allow Russia to come out of this conflict as a victor, we have all lost," he stressed.

Drawing a parallel with 1938, when European countries allowed Adolf Hitler to annex Czechoslovakia to avoid wider aggression, Pavel noted that this time the West is guilty not so much of betraying Ukrainians but of lacking collective courage to defend its own values.

"What we are doing now, I wouldn't call it a betrayal of Ukraine. I would call it reluctance – reluctance to protect the principles we all claim to protect," the Czech president said.

He added that everything must be done to prevent Ukraine from losing the war.

Quote: "We simply cannot let Ukraine lose this conflict. The threat of violence, airspace violations, arson or other hybrid attacks [against European countries] would only increase."

Read more: Security at a crossroads. How US and Russia push for a new European order through "peace" in Ukraine

Details: Meanwhile, Pavel acknowledged that Europe will eventually need a new security agreement with Moscow, but only on the right terms.

"If we are to think about any future relations with Russia, they can only start after there is a peace agreement and during a process that would lead to a new security arrangement in Europe," he said.

Background:

• Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Ukraine, said that a deal to end the war in Ukraine is "really close".
• On 6 December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a phone conversation with representatives of the Ukrainian and US negotiating teams working to end the Russo-Ukrainian war.
• Prior to that, Rustem Umierov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council and the head of the Ukrainian delegation, and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reported on the progress of negotiations regarding the peace plan proposed by the Ukrainian and US sides.

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