Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said Europe, together with the United States, should push for negotiations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.
“We have to stop this war. It is clear that Putin is the aggressor, he is really doing something unacceptable… Europe, together with the United States, must make both President Zelensky and President Putin sit down at the negotiating table. Diplomacy is not weakness. It is the only way forward,” Babiš said at the Prague Defense Summit. He also warned that the current course, in his view, risks leading to a broader global conflict.
This is not the first time Babiš has publicly called for intensified efforts to negotiate an end to the war. In May 2026, following a meeting with Zelensky, he said the Ukrainian president was interested in ending the war and identified the question of who could serve as a mediator as a key issue. Babiš mentioned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and leaders of Central Asian countries among potential participants in the peace process. At the same time, he acknowledged that it would be difficult for Ukraine to accept the terms demanded by Putin.
In June, Babiš criticized the EU for failing to reach a common position on negotiations with Moscow. He said Zelensky should not conduct negotiations without European participation, given the key role European countries play in supporting Ukraine.
At the same time, the Babiš government reduced the Czech Republic’s own financial involvement in military assistance to Ukraine. Prague continued to coordinate the Czech ammunition initiative, but Babiš said it should be financed by other countries rather than from the Czech state budget.
