VILNIUS (dpa-AFX) – Czech President and ex-General Petr Pavel has warned that the window for a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive will “more or less close” by the end of the year. This is not only due to the conditions in winter, but also to the upcoming elections in Ukraine, Russia and the USA in 2024, the 61-year-old said on Tuesday at a NATO discussion event in Vilnius. In his view, what will be achieved by then should form the basis for negotiations on a ceasefire.
Currently, Ukraine is slowly gaining ground, said Pavel. The last few months of trench warfare would have given the Russian side ample time to deploy hundreds of kilometers of echeloned defenses with obstacles and minefields. Among other things, Ukraine lacks air support and equipment for clearing minefields.
Pavel stressed: “We have to ask ourselves: have we given Ukraine enough resources to undertake a counter-offensive that is more successful (than previous attempts)?”
The ex-general has been at the head of the EU and NATO member state Czech Republic since March. From June 2015 to June 2018 he chaired the NATO Military Committee./hei/DP/ngu