EU must rethink Russia policy – Czech president

The EU should engage in talks with Russia on European security and restoring business ties once the Ukraine conflict ends, Czech President Petr Pavel has said. The comments mark a notable shift from his previously hardline stance toward Moscow.

Pavel has been a harsh critic of Russia during the Ukraine conflict and a strong advocate of more Western military aid to Kiev. He also spearheaded a plan to supply Ukraine with 1.8 million artillery shells, although the scheme has faced funding issues. Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western arms deliveries, warning they only prolong the conflict.

Speaking to BBC News Ukraine on Tuesday, Pavel said the EU should rethink its approach to Russia and try to find a “compromise” with Moscow.

“It is very difficult to agree to that. But we also live in reality. What alternatives do we have, both us and Ukraine? To fight Russia endlessly? Such an approach will probably lead to great human losses for all of us and serious damage to our economies,” he argued.

If a peace deal between Moscow and Kiev is reached, Western Europe “will be able to start rebuilding Ukraine and, perhaps, depending on how Russia reacts to this, to bring Russia back to the negotiating table on security in Europe, to discuss cooperation and business that we had before,” Pavel said.

“A significant part of our population would prefer good relations with Russia. These people do not want to submit to its interests, but believe that negotiations are always better than conflict,” he added.

The Czech president, who previously served as chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, said Kiev must seek peace with Moscow because even “with all the support of the West” it would be unable to recapture territory lost to Russia “in a short time without significant human casualties.” However, he insisted that the EU would never legally recognize regions which have voted to join Russia from Ukraine.

In an interview with Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that Moscow’s key demand in settling the Ukraine conflict is international recognition of Crimea, as well as the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions as part of Russia. Crimea joined Russia after a 2014 referendum, with similar votes held in the other four regions in 2022.

Lavrov also criticized what he described as the EU’s transformation into a “military-political bloc” and “an appendix to NATO,” warning that this “dangerous trend… could have far-reaching consequences for all Europeans.”