In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on June 14, Czech President Petr Pavel has stated that he believes security services should monitor Russians living in the West as it is „simply the cost” of the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.
He noted that while he has empathy for Russians outside the country who face hardships over Moscow’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, „when there is an ongoing war, the security measures related to Russian nationals should be stricter than in normal times”, even if they are opposed to the conflict.
„All Russians living in Western countries should be monitored much more than in the past because they are citizens of a nation that leads an aggressive war…. That’s simply the cost of war”, he stated.
As regards Ukraine’s Pavel, who is a former senior NATO official, stated that if it were a member of the alliance today, the Ukrainian military would be „without any doubt the most experienced military in NATO.” He said that in technical and procedural terms, the Ukrainian military will very soon will be ready for NATO membership.
Regarding Ukraine’s EU membership aspirations, Pavel noted that he has already said he sees Ukraine as a future member and would link membership to postwar reconstruction.
