 West should prepare for long war in Ukraine, chief of Czech army's general staff. The West must gird for a long war in Ukraine and to deal with an increasingly hostile Russia even after hostilities are over. This was stated by the chief of the general staff of the Czech army, Karel Rika, who spoke in an interview with Reuters. While some Western officials have expressed concern about Ukraine's slow counter-offensive, Rika is not at all frustrated by the pace of the Ukrainian progress. This is how a military offensive looks, he said. It is not like a World War II movie. It takes time. In general, in his opinion, there is no capacity on either side to reach their ultimate declared objectives anytime soon. It won't last a few weeks. It will last for long, probably. And it's important that we keep supporting Ukrainians for a long time. Rika noted that the Czech Republic still has weapons in its storage that it could provide to Ukraine. We are going through different storages and plans and concepts and trying to identify what more we can provide. We still have some, including some heavy equipment. Rika predicts that Russia will act less predictably and pose a more serious threat to the West even after the war ends. At the same time, according to the chief of the general staff, the war spurred Western allies to take more seriously to the former Soviet-era satellite nations who experienced decades of control from Moscow. Overall, I think the Eastern flank is a little bit more listened to right now, he said. Many things that are now taken seriously were articulated by the Baltic states and Poland before, but no one listened.