Czech President believes Ukraine can join NATO even with part of its territory remaining occupied

Ukraine's accession to NATO should not depend on whether the government fully controls its entire territory.

The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, expressed this opinion in an interview with Novinky and Pravo, Ukrinform reports.

"I believe full restoration of control over the entire territory is not a prerequisite (for membership). If it comes to demarcation or the formation of some administrative border, we can perceive this administrative border as temporary and accept Ukraine into NATO within the borders it will control at that time," the president said.

He recalled that there is already a precedent for such a step in history, which is Germany. Pavel recalled that not all Western nations accepted the division of Germany, and although part of the country was occupied by the Soviet Union, its western part was accepted into NATO in 1955.

"Therefore, I believe there is both a technical and a legal solution to allow Ukraine to join NATO so that the Alliance does not become party to the conflict with the Russian Federation," said Pavel, who is a former NATO general.

He expects Ukraine will be able to negotiate peace with Russia in the coming years. This will happen when both sides understand that the war cannot go on. World powers — the United States, China, and the European Union — must significantly contribute to this end.

The agreement may imply that Russia occupies part of Ukraine’s territory for a long time, but world democracies do not recognize this altering of borders.

"If there are peace talks, we will most likely talk about Russia occupying part of the territory of Ukraine for a long time, and from the point of view of democratic nations that claim to respect international law and the UN Charter, it should be the case where we will respect the agreements between the warring parties, but we will not agree to the change of international borders based on aggression," the head of state explained.

According to Pavel, democracies should perceive territories held by Russia as those occupied only temporarily.

The former general believes that Ukraine’s ongoing raid in Russia’s Kursk region is aimed at giving Ukraine a better negotiating hand ahead of any potential peace talks.