"Ukraine should be realistic": Czech President makes surprising take on the end of Russia's war

Czech President Petr Pavel believes that the "most probable" outcome of the war that Russia has launched against Ukraine is that some Ukrainian territories may remain under Russian occupation. In his opinion, such an end to the war may be temporary, but it does not mean that the occupation will not last for years.

Pavel said this in an interview with the New York Times published on Monday, September 23. The Czech president emphasized that Ukraine should be "realistic" about the prospects of returning the settlements seized by the aggressor state's troops.

At the same time, according to the politician, Russia cannot expect to achieve its goals in the war.

"The most probable outcome of the war will be that a part of Ukrainian territory will be under Russian occupation, temporarily," the Czech president said.

The Czech leader believes that the concept of "temporarily" can last for years.

"To talk about a defeat of Ukraine or defeat of Russia, it will simply not happen. So the end will be somewhere in between," Pavel said.

The politician explained his stance by mentioning Russia-friendly leaders, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who are undermining European unity on the war and assistance to Ukraine, as well as fatigue from 19 months of active hostilities is growing.

He also cited examples of countries that have experienced temporary occupation but later regained their independence, although he did not specify which countries he was referring to. The publication notes that he probably meant Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

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