PRAGUE, August 21. /TASS/. The United States and China should push Russia and Ukraine to begin peace talks, lest the conflict become frozen and last years, Czech President Petr Pavel said.
"It is my opinion that, in the next few years, the sides [of the Ukrainian conflict] will realize that the conflict should not be prolonged, and [peace] talks will take place. Global powers, not only the United States, but China as well, could do a lot [to help things along]," the president said in an interview with the Novinky website.
In his opinion, the United States and China should utilize "political, economic and diplomatic" instruments to achieve this goal.
The Czech president acknowledged that "although the EU constitutes a major economic and political power, it will not manage on its own."
"Joint actions with the United States and other democratic countries are needed," the head of state noted. He underscored that the outcome of the US presidential election will have a big impact on the situation.
Pavel added that the conflict will end when the international community "finds enough strength to convince both sides [of the conflict] that they will not be able to achieve their political goals via military means." Otherwise, the conflict may "transition from a hot one into a frozen conflict, potentially lasting years."
"Right now, we have no other option but to support Ukraine," the president believes.
He also said that Kiev is entitled to use weapons sent to it by Western states to strike Russian territory, because "this fully complies with the rules of war."
Speaking about the implementation of the Czech initiative on procurement of shells for Ukraine in third countries, he said that contracts have been signed for the supply of 500,000 shells. According to the president, Ukrainian forces will receive between 80,000 and 100,000 such shells monthly until the end of this year.