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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with Czech President-elect Petr Pavel and invited him to visit Kyiv.
“I personally congratulated Petr on his victory in the Czech presidential election. I thanked him and the Czech people for their unwavering support. I invited him to visit Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote.
According to the BBC, Pavel called for the continuation of the sanctions against Moscow in an interview with Czech television.
“Objectively speaking, [EU sanctions] undermine Russia's ability to invest more in the war in Ukraine,” Pavel said. “It is crucial to keep pressure on Russia on all fronts to end the conflict in favor of Ukraine, the country that has been attacked,” the president-elect said.
According to the Czech president-elect, the war could end in 2024 as Russia runs out of sophisticated weapons and trained soldiers.
On January 28, retired General Petr Pavel won the second round of the Czech presidential election after 100 percent of the votes were counted. Pavel received 58.32% of the vote, while his rival, former prime minister Andrej Babiš, received 41.67%.
It was reported in 2021 that Czech President Miloš Zeman was unable to perform his duties, having spent more than a week in intensive care. The Senate was preparing for a power transfer according to the procedure stipulated by the Czech constitution. At the time, Zeman had not appeared in public for more than a month and his diagnosis was not disclosed, but the media quoted sources as saying that the 77-year-old president had hepatic encephalopathy. The disease causes brain dysfunction with severe liver damage. Zeman repeatedly supported Babiš in 2022, indicating he would vote for him in the second round.