Czech President-elect Petr Pavel spoke by telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In his view, support for Ukraine must not wane, and Russia must not be allowed to win the war. The way to guarantee greater security for everyone is to regain normalcy, to restore a sovereign Ukraine, Pavel told CNN Prima News Czech television the day after the vote results were announced.

According to Petr Pavel, in the future, when the situation in Russia allows it, it will be necessary to establish normal relations with Moscow and determine the parameters of mutual security. Pavel assesses the current situation in Russia as unstable, drawing attention to the worsening economic situation. In Russian society, according to Pavel, there is increasing frustration about the course of the war and what it has currently led to, as well as about the way the regime is communicating with its people. "Over time, Russia will understand that it is impossible to emerge victorious from this situation," believes Petr Pavel. According to him, the Russian army is not used to losing, and Moscow still has more resources to wage war than Kyiv. It is extremely important how the international community and especially China will treat this situation, which, according to the president-elect, has a great influence on the possible end of the current crisis.

At the same time, Pavel noted that economic sanctions reduce Russia's capabilities, including reducing investment in the military complex and spending on war, as well as making it impossible to use high technology on the battlefield. It is necessary to explain to people that supporting Ukraine is the only possible way and that we need to express solidarity, Petr Pavel said. The type of international relations Russia is trying to insist on in Ukraine is not in the interest of the Czech Republic, so it is impossible to allow rules to be broken not so far from Czech borders.