As Vladimir Putin annexes four Ukrainian provinces, representing 15 percent of Ukraine's territory, the Czech Republic's Minister for European Affairs Mikulas Bek told FRANCE 24 that this is "totally unacceptable… the EU cannot step down from our support for Ukraine". After former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declared earlier this week that Russia had the right to defend itself with nuclear weapons, Bek responded that if that did happen, "it would mean a total change in modern history, and would have heavy consequences even for present allies of Russia or neutral countries, which would be forced to take a position".
The Czech minister went on to urge "prudence" from NATO, saying "we should not provoke Russia verbally, but we have to be ready for all possibilities".
