Zelenskyy reacts to Czech President's claim that "gains of Ukrainian forces by the year-end to lay ground for negotiations"

The Czech leader said this at the NATO summit, reports The New York Times.

According to him, the window of opportunity for Ukraine to achieve military progress "will more or less close by the end of this year" due to upcoming elections in the United States and other countries.

According to Pavel, by next year we should expect a "decline of willingness to massively support Ukraine with more weapons."

"Whatever is achieved by the end of this year will be the baseline for negotiation," Pavel said.

The publication notes that the statement of the Czech president contradicts the statements of other leaders that military support to Ukraine will remain at the current level.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s reaction

"Today at the summit, I have seen support from the United States, Germany, France, Poland. I can't name all the countries, but all the leaders assured me, and thus assured our people and military, that they will help and support us as much as necessary. But all this also depends on what actions we will take on the battlefield," Zelenskyy said on July 12 at a press conference following the NATO summit. 

He noted that Ukraine's partners had assured him that their support would not decrease. 

"This is very important not only for our allies to support us, but we need it to keep us motivated, to know what we are going for. That we are going to win, to restore our territorial integrity. We cannot just stand still and expect that someone will support us for decades. So I wish all of us success in this struggle. I believe that there should be a positive result," Zelenskyy said.

• In June, Pavel said that no NATO country would agree to send peacekeepers to Ukraine.