Czech President Petr Pavel has called on NATO to respond more decisively to Russian provocations on the Alliance's eastern flank. He has suggested possible measures include cutting off Russia's internet, cutting off its banks from the global financial system and shooting down planes that violate Allied airspace.
Pavel said this in an interview with The Guardian in Prague.
The Czech president called for “sufficiently decisive, potentially even asymmetric” responses to Moscow's provocative behavior against the Alliance. He said that without a tough response, the Kremlin would only increase the pressure.
He expressed disappointment at the “lack of determination to continue pressuring Russia from the United States,” but avoided direct criticism of US President Donald Trump. Pavel had previously told Czech media that Trump had done more to undermine NATO's credibility in recent weeks than Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin had done in many years. Commenting on these words, the Czech president said that he did not believe that “any direct criticism of the US would help now.”
According to him, after the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Moscow learned how NATO works and “developed a style of behavior that almost reaches the threshold of Article 5, but always stays just below that level.”
Pavel said that Russian military leaders sometimes laugh at the Alliance's decision-making paralysis.
“When I asked them why they were carrying out these provocative actions in the air, close approaches or overflights of warships in the Black Sea or the Baltic Sea, their answer was: 'because we can'. This is exactly the behavior we have allowed,” he said.
Earlier, a NATO fighter jet shot down a drone over Estonia, and similar incidents have disrupted daily life in Latvia and Lithuania. In most cases, these were Ukrainian drones that were aimed at Russia but were silenced by electronic warfare and redirected to NATO territory. Russia, in turn, accuses the Baltic states of cooperating with Ukraine to launch drones from their territory — accusations Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia categorically deny.
“After the annexation of Crimea, we discussed the potential continuation of aggression many times, but my greatest fear was not open military aggression against a NATO country, but rather provocation below the threshold of Article 5,” Pavel said.
If some European leaders “always prefer a diplomatic solution, even when the Russians do not show readiness for it,” NATO risks being divided and unable to act.
“Russia, unfortunately, does not understand diplomatic language. It understands mainly the language of force, ideally backed up by action… if violations of NATO airspace continue, we will have to make a decision to shoot down an unmanned or manned aircraft,” the Czech president said.
Pavel added that the alliance should also consider “asymmetric” measures “that don’t kill people, but are sensitive enough to make Russia understand that this is not the path it should take.” He cited examples of shutting down the internet or satellites and cutting off Russian banks from the financial system. Starlink, he said, has shown on the battlefield what a difference such a step can make.
Pawel echoed recent warnings from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and added that “if we do not respond to the violations we are facing today, Russia will likely increase its provocations.”
“Within their doctrine, there is a provision of 'escalation for the sake of de-escalation'… I think that no matter what we allow, they will try to go further and further,” the Czech president said.
He gave the example of Russia's shadow fleet: the EU had been talking about it for years, and when it finally took action, “the entire fleet was suddenly redirected to other regions.”
Pavel believes that Ukraine needs “more pressure and determination from the United States.” American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, he believes, should be tougher on Russia and tie the easing of sanctions to a potential peace deal. He also criticized Europe for not defining its own policy toward Russia and not proposing a vision for a post-war security architecture, instead expecting solutions from Washington.
In his opinion, the best moment to increase pressure on Russia was last year, when it was facing economic and military difficulties, but the US-Israeli operation against Iran helped Moscow by increasing its oil revenues. Despite this, Russia remains in a difficult position, and Europe and the US must make a “final push” with sanctions to force it to the negotiating table.
“If you want to get rid of sanctions, which you are striving for; if you want to start a debate on European security, which you have repeatedly hinted at, we are ready for that. But the condition is clear: a ceasefire and peace talks in Ukraine,” the Czech president summed up.