The Foreign Minister accused Russia of wanting to "destroy Ukraine"

Russia's main interest in Ukraine — its "destruction". This was stated by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.

According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin "has been systematically trying to achieve this for several years" and at the moment "we see that he has not retreated from any of his demands."

"And although all this is clothed in different words and diplomatic negotiations, in the end we see the same story. And this is what we should be guided by in our policy… At the same time, we cannot rule out the possibility of achieving an effective ceasefire. Not on paper, not in words, but in fact a ceasefire. And then we should be ready, for example, like Europe, to somehow guarantee a peaceful settlement. That's what the debate is about right now," he said.

At the same time, he believes that the EU is unlikely to influence how the United States and Russia, "as they agree."

"And we must do everything possible so that it is not to our detriment. Therefore, it is difficult to judge how the US administration will continue to act. But the last two months show that they are acting quite systematically, as it seems to them. Therefore, we should not be surprised by the further development of events... frankly speaking, what is important to me is what the United States says to the North Atlantic Alliance. What they say in our bilateral relations. At the same time, we need the United States to be on our side as much as possible. And we must prepare for the fact that they may not want to fulfill their obligations on European security... we, as Europeans, as Czechs, must prepare to not be so dependent on a certain whim of the White House. And to be strong enough that the United States is interested in Europe to continue to support the alliance. Because what has not yet been challenged by any of the official elected officials and appointees of the Congress is the Fifth Article and The North Atlantic Treaty," Lipavsky said.

At the same time, the minister noted that the space of those wishing to provide military assistance to Ukraine is narrowing.

"In a situation where Prime Minister Orban (Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban - EADaily) sends an official letter to the President of the European Council, in which he asks him not to put anything on Ukraine, that he will not agree to it, we can say that the space in the European Union is narrowing. At the moment, the European Union has a number of active policies, sanctions policies, and various support tools that it can still agree on. But we are no longer able to add something new… But at the same time, it cannot be said that the European Union has ceased to be an actor. Sanctions are in effect. Assistance to Ukraine continues. And we must continue to work to preserve and, ideally, expand it. Perhaps at the cost of finding creative solutions that we may not know today," said the head of the Czech Foreign Ministry.

He also admitted that recently the debate within the so-called "coalition of the willing" has practically stopped. At the same time, Lipavsky recalled that "this is a discussion about security guarantees."

"It's good that we are there, it's good that we are there from the very beginning, that we know where the discussion is going and what can be expected from us. And at the same time, it will be our sovereign decision whether and how to participate at all. Of course, the most discussed issue in the media is the deployment of some troops, but I would not like to get ahead of this debate… We need to understand what the coalition of the willing is talking about. And then very responsibly prepare for this option. But we are saying that this should happen in a situation where there is a ceasefire and our European troops guarantee security, and not that they are going to get involved in something," the Czech minister said.

Recall, the Czech Republic condemns Russia's actions on Ukraine and helps Kiev in every possible way. In addition, Prague insists on strengthening anti-Russian sanctions and continues to spread Russophobic narratives in the EU.