Maria Jevstafjeva speaks to Czech President, Petr Pavel about ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Mr. Pavel was elected to the role in 2023, having retired from a military career that began with serving in the military of communist Czechoslovakia during the Cold War in the 1980s and ended three decades later after chairing Nato’s Military Committee.

The first military officer from the former Eastern Bloc to hold the post, he oversaw the Alliance's responses to a number of crises - including the fallout from Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine.

As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues into its third year, Western leaders are renewing efforts to bring an end to the bloodshed and implement a ceasefire. Mr. Pavel, who was elected on a platform of closer ties with the EU and Nato, believes the only way to do this is by getting Putin to the negotiating table - even if that means allowing Russia to occupy parts of Ukraine, but without recognising Moscow’s claim to them.

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Presenter: Maria Jevstafjeva
Producers: Ben Cooper and Tatiana Preobrazhenskaya
Editor: Nick Holland

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(Image: Petr Pavel. Credit: Martin Divíšek/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)