Its chairman Czech Republic Petr Pavel called them USA To give Europe more time and realistic goals to take care of the security of Epirus and to limit an increasingly aggressive Russia.
European nations cannot secure a constant peace in Ukraine without the help of the US, and Donald Trump is right to demand significant defense spending significantly, said Czech president and former NATO senior general. But it will take years to replace some of Washington’s protections, he told Bloomberg television in an interview with his office in Prague.
“The US will try to put pressure on Europeans to do it faster,” said Pavel, who will represent the Czech Republic at the NATO Summit on June 24 – 25 in The Hague. “Let’s create a lot of pressure on Europeans, but let’s not push them to the cliff.”
Pavel’s appeal comes two weeks before the leaders of the North Atlantic Agreement are expected to agree to spend at least 5% of GDP on defense – a victory for Trump, who has long been pushing Europe to invest more in its safety. The goal for the Hague summit and beyond that is to “keep the American committed” in the region, according to the Czech state leader.
He expressed his optimism that the allies would agree on higher military investment and that the US would maintain NATO Article 5, the collective defense clause that binds members to protect each other. “I believe it is possible to remain united“, Said the Czech president. “European allies would welcome a much stronger expression that Russia is and will be, at least in the short term, the biggest challenge for our safety.”
Pavel, 63, said that the summary statement would be “extremely short” and would probably refrain from previous commitments to Ukraine’s financial and military support, as well as the prospect of the country’s integration into the alliance. Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday (10.6.2025), citing a preliminary plan, that the one -page statement focuses solely on defense spending.
This is a sharp deviation from last year’s statement that exceeded 5,000 words and included a promise of long -term help in Ukraine’s security.
Pavel said frustrated Trump’s reluctance to demonstrate more power and clearly define Russia as attacker and Ukraine as a victim. The Czech President added that Europe needs the US to step up pressure on the Kremlin through financial sanctions, diplomatic isolation and military deterrence. “We see clearly that Donald Trump leaves the door open for future relations, mainly economic, with Russia,” Pavel said. “I have some suspicions that he does not fully understand what Russia and the Russians are.”
Russia has intensified raids with unmanned aircraft and rockets that earlier this week hit political targets in Kiev and in the city of Odessa of the Black Sea. While Russia and Ukraine have agreed on significant exchanges of prisoners, peace talks have swallowed. Trump has so far avoided imposing new sanctions to force the Kremlin to agree on a ceasefire.
Pavel was one of Ukraine’s most ardent supportersurging the allies to increase weapons supplies and giving Kiev a way out of accession to the European Union and NATO. The Czech Republic has also coordinated international donations of heavy ammunition and It has supported a plan for NATO members to increase defense and security costs to 5% of GDP.
But after more than three years of war, the allies are becoming more and more realized that Ukraine is unlikely to achieve all its military targets, according to Pavel, who became president of the Czech Republic in 2023 after being chairman of the NATO military committee.
“Part of the territory will be temporarily under the occupation of Russia and that there will be necessary concessions that need to be made by Ukraine,” he said. “We should all collectively try for the best possible result.”
However, Pavel said, the West must continue to equip Ukraine to prevent Russia from declaring victory and feeling reward for its aggression. “I think NATO is and will be the cornerstone of European security,” Pavel said. “We have to coordinate very closely with the US, because it is in their interest not to let Russia prevail in this conflict.”