Any achievements on the battlefield by the end of the year will form the basis of future negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Czech President Petr Pavel said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11, European Pravda reports.
According to the Pavel, the "window of opportunity" for Ukraine to advance will close by the end of the year.
"We have to be realistic: the window of opportunity will more or less closed by the end of this year. Not only because of winter conditions, but also because of the upcoming elections in Ukraine, Russia, and the United States," the Czech president said.
The Czech president added that in his opinion, support for Ukraine among allies is only going to decrease with time.
"We will also see another decline in their willingness to support Ukraine massively with more weapons. All these conditions are likely to lead to conclusions: Whatever is achieved by the end of this year will be the basis for negotiations," Pavel said.
Last March, Pavel told Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita that Ukraine would only have one shot at launching a successful counteroffensive, saying that if it failed, it would be extremely difficult for Ukraine to get funding for another one.
Dinara Khalilova
