"I think that Russia is satisfied with the annexation of Crimea, and I doubt that it is possible for it to invade eastern Ukraine… because the region has been destroyed by civil war,” Zeman said.
“Moscow will have to feed tens of millions of hungry mouths, but it hasn’t enough economic capabilities [to do this]," he said.
According to Zeman, if Russia doesn’t invade any more Ukrainian territory, the sanctions imposed against it will be gradually lifted.
As reported, on November 17, Zeman said in an interview with Russia’s First Channel that Ukraine was plagued by civil war and the West should have not provided economic assistance to Ukraine.
"Sanctions are a lose-lose strategy, a strategy under which all are losing, and no one gains any advantage," Zeman said.
The Czech president’s comments were greeted coolly in Kyiv, where the conflict in the Donbas is viewed by the government as a Russian attempt to destabilize the country, rather than a civil war.
