Czech President Petr Pavel said that a ceasefire between Ukraine and russia was close, but the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to strike a deal with putin on diesel fuel supplies eased the pressure on russia. In Pavel’s view, this could give moscow new grounds to continue the war. Politico reports, according to UNN.
Details
According to the publication, Czech President Petr Pavel said that coordinated U.S. and European sanctions against Russian oil, oligarchs, and other industries had created considerable pressure on moscow. However, the deal announced by Trump at the beginning of this month, under which russia will supply the United States with hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel fuel, "gave russia time to catch its breath."
It will be much more difficult now. russia is using this momentum to get out from under the pressure, and this is a kind of morale boost for them
In addition, according to available information, the deal has drawn criticism in the United States. Even a bipartisan group of U.S. senators called on Trump to abandon it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also criticized the arrangement. In a social media post, he said that the deal "plays into russia’s hands" and allows russia to "kill more, wage war longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and harm on the world."
While Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed disappointment with Zelenskyy, accusing him of prolonging the war. By contrast, recently he has spoken warmly about putin and said this week that "russia, frankly speaking, has a normal attitude toward Ukraine"
At the same time, Pavel expressed support for the Ukrainian president.
I believe that President Zelenskyy and all of Ukraine are victims of the conflict. So I would probably be the last person to blame Ukraine for the conflict. It was not Ukraine that attacked russia. It was not Ukraine that threatened russia
He also added that Trump was demonstrating a more open approach toward russia than any European leader.
To some extent, he may be attracted to volodymyr putin as a leader with power, but I do not think that… President Trump views this from the standpoint of a struggle between democracies and autocracies, because he looks at it simply from the perspective of the economic prosperity of the United States
At the same time, Petr Pavel did not call the deal a betrayal of Ukraine or its European partners.
I do not yet know whether it can be called a betrayal, but I would call it a mistake. Because… this now gives russia new hope: new hope that they can ignore Europe, they can ignore Ukraine, they can focus on concluding a deal with the United States, potentially with China, and on putting everything in order according to their priorities and strategies. I believe that this clearly runs counter to our interests in Europe
The Czech president also did not rule out the possibility that European countries could once again buy Russian oil in the future. However, he stressed that for this to happen, russia would have to begin respecting the sovereignty and borders of other states.
If one day russia becomes a country that respects the sovereignty and borders of other countries, why not have regular dealings with such a country? But russia has not yet reached that level
We remind you
russia claims that the first tanker carrying Russian diesel fuel after the deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump will depart for the United States on Thursday, October 22.