The Interview3 Aug 2025

Petr Pavel, Czech President: Russia cannot stand economic pressure

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.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

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

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