The newly elected president of the Czech Republic, Peter Pavel, believes that the idea of the collapse of Russia after the war with Ukraine will bring a lot of problems to the West, including the lack of security guarantees.
He said this during a discussion at the Ukrainian lunch within the framework of the Munich Security Conference.
"I understand Ukraineʼs desire to end this war when all Russian soldiers leave the last piece of Ukrainian land, and for the Russian president to come to Ukraine and beg for forgiveness on his knees," Pavel said, adding that a situation where the liberation of the occupied territories would lead to greater human losses than society will accept.
"That is, there may be a point when even Ukraine will start thinking about another end to the war. And we should also take this into account, because it is necessary not only to wait for the best, but also to be ready for the worst. Therefore, I would still call for more caution in assessing the potential end of this conflict," the Czech president said.
In his opinion, the collapse of Russia is dangerous because there will be no one to negotiate with about future security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe.
"With a collapsed Russia, we will have more problems that we donʼt even understand now. I think itʼs much better to be realistic. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst," Pavel said.
In response, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba called on the allies to believe in Ukraine and not to prepare it for the worst.
"I listen very carefully to many friends of Ukraine. And I see that we need to overcome a certain intellectual trap. When you support Ukraine, you should also believe in Ukraine and not prepare Ukraine for the worst," said Kuleba.
He also recalled that at last yearʼs Munich conference, before the start of a full-scale invasion, "few people believed that we would survive."
- The 59th Munich Security Conference, the main Western forum on foreign and security policy, opened in Germany on Friday, February 17. The central theme of the conference, which will last until February 19, was Russiaʼs war against Ukraine.