Newest article of Czech politician about the Ukrainian problem

Jan Kavan (born 1946) is Czech politician no more active in highest politics, former minister of foreign affairs of Czech republic (1998-2002) , during 2002-2003 President of the United Nations General Assembly, senator for social democrats etc.

Here are the main points from his article published 25th February 2022 on Czech web:

" It seems that Putin has run out of patience and his so far strong nerves have left him. And he has evidently lost any faith that the west will negotiate seriously with him on his demands for guarantees of Russia's security, that there will be no NATO troops on its borders and that no offensive weapons systems will be deployed on the territory of Ukraine. The West did not take his demands seriously enough. NATO's so-called open door policy runs counter to President Barack Obama's earlier assurance that it must always take into account the security interests of other states, including Russia.

I repeat that I strongly disagree with the invasion of Ukraine as a clear violation of international law, but I would like to remind you that we should not use double standards. Kennedy's rejection of Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962 was also an assertion of spheres of influence. At that time, under pressure, Khrushchev withdrew them, and therefore there was no war.
However, the invasion of Ukraine and the bombing of Ukrainian cities are completely out of this category and must not only be condemned, but stopped as soon as possible. "Let's give peace a chance!“.

It is understandable that every major power wants to have a kind of cordon sanitaire around its borders. However, by invading Ukraine, Russia will pay a very high price for it. I confess that I was convinced that Putin would not want to pay it. In addition to damage to its own economy (and, of course, Ukrainian, but also European, including Czech), Russia will face tough sanctions, international isolation, but above all, this step will lead to many loss of human life and suffering.
I do not think that even tougher sanctions, including Russia's secession from the SWIFT payment system (which will also harm Europe and Germany in particular), could force Putin to break off the military conflict and withdraw his troops. This will happen if he manages to somehow secure his goals militarily, that is, to force Kiev to begin negotiations on a certain demilitarization of Ukraine.
Certainly, the Ukrainian government should not have enforced a meaningless language law at the expense of Russian, nor should it have sought to join NATO, which it was clear that Russia would never accept. The security of the state could be ensured, for example, by a certain neutrality guaranteed by the US, Russia and the UN. "

             Let us hope that politicians will finally begin to act in a reasonable way

                                                                                                                            Margaret