Czech President warns Ukraine against hurried counter-offensive

Czech President Petr Pavel has privately warned the Ukrainian leadership against the disaster of a hurried counter-offensive.

Source: Petr Pavel in an interview with The Guardian during his visit to London for the Coronation of Charles III.

Details: During recent meetings in Kyiv of the Czech President with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Pavel warned that Ukraine's Armed Forces lack the element of surprise that contributed to the successful assault on Kharkiv and Kherson oblasts last autumn.

The war hero, who chaired NATO's military committee until 2018 and was awarded by the Czech and French governments for rescuing French troops besieged by Serbs during the 1993 Bosnian war, said that Kyiv recognises that there are gaps in Ukraine's ability to attack Russian troops successfully.

"Apparently, they still have a feeling that they do not have everything to start successfully an operation," Pavel said.

As preparations are still underway, Pavel has appealed to Ukraine's PM during meetings last week not to be "pushed into a faster pace before they are fully prepared," the Czech leader said. "Because it might be a temptation to push them, for some, to demonstrate some results," he explained.

"It will be extremely harmful to Ukraine if this counteroffensive fails, because they will not have another chance, at least not this year," Pavel said.

According to him, Ukraine will inevitably face "terrible losses" regardless of the strength of its troops, and they cannot afford to fail.

"Because it’s extremely demanding in terms of putting together personnel equipment, ammunition logistics, fuel financing. It will simply be one chance this year, so it has to be successful," he stressed.

Background: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called the expected counteroffensive Ukraine's "last great opportunity".

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