Pavel: Russia must be pushed to negotiating table through tougher sanctions

This was stated by Czech President Petr Pavel at the GLOBSEC 2025 forum, which began in Prague on June 12, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.

“We have to be realistic: Russia is now well-equipped, it is now experienced from the war, it has the ambition to reconstitute the Soviet Union as a global power, and it has expressed a number od requirements to European countries when it comes to a new security architecture in Europe. It would be very naïve to believe that President Putin wouldn't be tempted to use the power he has, the power of war economy to at least try to test NATO’s unity and resolve,” Pavel said.

He pointed out that many citizens in Europe — and sometimes even American allies — tend to downplay the seriousness of the threat posed by Russia.

Pavel also emphasized a psychological distinction: while Europeans tend to view history in cycles of peace, crisis, and war, Russians see history as a continuous conflict, where only means and intensity are changing.

“So for them, they are actually in a kind of a war with Western democracies… They are now using mostly cyber and hybrid tools, but this may change very quickly, because they really see it as a continuity,” he warned.

Pavel believes that Europe alone does not have enough leverage to bring Putin to the negotiating table. He stressed the importance of financial and economic tools, possibly even more than military ones.

“We need to keep supporting Ukraine with military equipment, materiel, financial support to sustain their defense. But at the same time, to push Russia to the table, we really need much stricter sanctions and measures than up to now. Russia is not in a good economic situation, they are not in a good financial situation. And the only way how to convince President Putin that the time has come to come to the table is really to push him to the brink of economic collapse. This is not about bringing Russia down, it’s about bringing them to the table” the Czech leader emphasized.

As reported, the 20th anniversary GLOBSEC Forum is taking place on June 12–14. More than 2,000 participants — including politicians, experts, and private-sector leaders from around 80 countries, including Ukraine — are attending.

Photo: GLOBSEC 2025