After the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia in August and he participated in the Czechoslovak-Soviet negotiations between the kidnapped Dubček and Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow, he suddenly reversed course and became a leader among those party members calling for the reversal of Dubček's reforms.
După ce sovieticii au invadat Cehoslovacia în luna august, el a participat la negocierile cehoslovaco-sovietice de la Moscova dintre ostaticul Dubček și Leonid Brejnev, el a devenit brusc un lider al membrilor de partid care cereau anularea reformelor lui Dubček.