Czech President Petr Pavel said during his visit to Kyiv on 16 January that Ukraine will have to make "a number of painful concessions" to end the war with Russia.
"I believe that there are a number of painful concessions that Ukraine will have to make and is ready to do so, provided it leads to peace," Pavel said following his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to European Pravda.
The Czech leader acknowledged that the United States remains indispensable to resolving the conflict.
"It is painful for Europe that the United States still plays a key role. But this does not mean that Europe and European countries should be on the sidelines of these efforts," he said.
Pavel emphasized that Europe must ensure "all the work that was done" during the preparation of peace agreement documents "does not go to waste."
"I believe that Ukraine has done a lot to make the proposed solution acceptable," he added.
Trump's shifting stance on Putin
The Czech president's remarks come amid reports that US President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Trump recently claimed that Zelenskyy, not Putin, was blocking a peace deal—an assertion the Ukrainian president denied.
Pavel's three-day visit
Pavel's visit—his third to Ukraine—began on 15 January in Lviv, where he met with Lviv Oblast Head Maksym Kozytskyy and Veterans Affairs Minister Natalia Kalmykova. Officials briefed him on the aftermath of the Russian attack on Lviv overnight on 15 January.
The Czech president visited Ukrainian soldiers at the Lviv Regional Hospital for War Veterans, where Czech and Ukrainian doctors conduct joint operations under the Medevac mission. There he met Valeriy Odainyk, an Invictus Games participant who has undergone 116 surgeries.
Pavel also toured the Superhumans prosthetics center and a children's medical center that opened a ward for seriously ill children in 2024 with support from the Czech Interior Ministry.
Ammunition initiative "absolutely key"
Speaking in Lviv, Pavel warned that canceling the Czech-led ammunition initiative would be "extremely harmful," noting it provides employment in the Czech Republic and generates state budget revenue.
"[The Ukrainian side] clearly expressed gratitude that [the ammunition initiative] continues, because for them it is an absolutely key part of how to provide units at the front with much-needed ammunition. If it suddenly stops, there will actually be no replacement," Pavel told journalists.
He described his visit as a signal that his "resolute support for Kyiv remains unchanged."
Ukraine and the Czech Republic also agreed to accelerate the signing of a government-to-government agreement to facilitate Ukrainian reconstruction projects, according to Rubryka.
