FM Lipavský sceptical about efforts towards ceasefire in Ukraine

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský has expressed scepticism about efforts on Russia’s side to establish a ceasefire in Ukraine. The minister does not see any real steps towards it from Russia, he said on Sunday in a CNN Prima television debate. The plan for a thirty-day ceasefire was set out on Saturday during a visit to Kyiv by the leaders of the UK, France, Germany and Poland, who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and held a phone call with US President Donald Trump. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far not agreed to the ceasefire, but has since proposed “direct talks” with Kyiv.

After the programme, Minister Lipavský posted on the X platform that “It should be Ukraine that sovereignly decides what the terms of peace should be … After Munich, peace did not come, but World War II began. We must not allow the same scenario to happen again.” The minister also said that if a thirty-day ceasefire is implemented, steps need to be taken so that "Russia does not feel like continuing to attack" after it.