Putin will likely control part of Ukraine when war ends, Czech president says

Kyiv needs to accept that part of Ukrainian territory will temporarily be under Russian occupation even if the war comes to an end, Czech President Petr Pavel said.

“The most probable outcome of the war will be that a part of Ukrainian territory will be under Russian occupation, temporarily,” he said in an interview with The New York Times published Monday, adding that “temporarily” could actually mean years.

“To talk about a defeat of Ukraine or defeat of Russia, it will simply not happen,” Pavel said, adding that neither Ukraine nor Russia can expect to secure their maximalist war goals.

His remarks come as the United Nations General Assembly in New York gets underway, with Ukraine being one of the hot topics on the agenda.

Pavel — a former NATO general who, like his country which has pushed the European Union to buy artillery shells from third countries to deliver them to Kyiv, has been one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters in its resistance against Russian President Vladimir Putin — has made similar remarks before.

In August, he said that any peace deal reached between Russia and Ukraine likely won’t be fair. Pavel also noted that Ukraine should be allowed to join NATO even if it doesn’t take all its occupied territory back.

Ukrainian leadership has gradually warmed to the idea of peace talks, though not directly with Putin and says it will refuse to cede Ukrainian territory to Russia.

“I think that we are closer to the peace than we think … We are closer to the end of the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday on ABC News’ Good Morning America as he appealed for more help from Western allies.