Fico says Slovakia seeks peace, not continued military aid to Ukraine
Slovakia is ready to offer assistance in promoting peace in Ukraine, while refusing to provide military support to Ukraine, because, according to Prime Minister Robert Fico, this contributes to the continuation of the war.
Fico told reporters about this at a joint press conference with European Council President António Costa in Bratislava, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.
The topic of peace took up a “huge” part of the conversation with Costa, Fico said.
“In our private conversation, we focused mainly on what is happening in Ukraine,” said the Slovak prime minister, recalling that he also met with Costa last week at the border crossing between Slovakia and Ukraine, where he informed Costa about the content of his conversations with the presidents of Ukraine and China and the Russian leader.
He also mentioned his desire for the European Union to “apply the same level of focus and energy to peace efforts as the EU applies to supporting the war in Ukraine.”
He said that Slovakia is offering its own assistance in resolving the war through its “good relations with various countries.”
“We offer our experience, we offer the opportunities we have, because my government's priority is to promote peace, not to continue the war and continue military support for Ukraine in this process,” Fico said, adding that the EU should play a more important role in peace efforts.
As reported, on September 5, President Zelensky held a bilateral meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Zakarpattia. Prior to that, Zelensky held a bilateral meeting with European Council President António Costa in Uzhhorod.
At a meeting in Beijing with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in early September, Chinese President Xi Jinping praised him for his commitment to friendship with China and expressed hope that Bratislava would continue to help Beijing build friendly relations with the European Union.
On September 2, Fico met with Russian leader Putin in Beijing, during which they discussed the issue of Ukraine.
Photo: OP