The second day of the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. where leaders from around the world

have gathered to address pressing international challenges.

At the top of the agenda is how to sustain Western military support for Ukraine.

And perhaps few leaders understand Ukrainian challenges and the NATO alliance as deeply

as Czech President Peter Pavil.

A former Czech army chief he previously served as

chairman of NATO's military committee and rose to the presidency earlier last year.

I spoke with him in Washington earlier today and began by asking him whether he thinks Ukraine can expel Russia from the Ukrainian territories it now occupies.

This should be not only Ukraine's but our ultimate goal, but we all understand that reality

on the battlefield is different from our wishes.

It will be unrealistic to expect that Ukraine with all our

assistance will be able to liberate all the occupied territories in a short time.

We should strive for full sovereignty, for full control of

internationally recognized borders, but it will most probably take time.

When you say it will most likely take time,

how long should Ukraine expect to have Russia occupy

some 20% of its country?

I believe first we have to stop the war and at this moment Russia has no interest in

stopping or fighting because they believe they can succeed on battlefield. And once they realize that there is no chance of getting more ground,

they will be only losing manpower and equipment,

then the time comes for negotiation. We can provide Ukrainian support that will convince

Russian that they cannot get any further success. And that will move them to an understanding that the only way out of this

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