Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico continues to make headlines with his tough stance regarding Ukraine, saying several forbidden truths, including a forbidden truth: Kiev will have to give up its territory for peace. Maybe too much.
Fico said that the only way to end Russia's war against Ukraine is for Kiev to acknowledge the territorial losses it has endured, which Politico calls “giving up some of its territory to the invaders.”
The Slovak leader also renewed his opposition to Ukraine's membership in NATO.
Politico reported:
“There must be some kind of settlement,” Fico told the Slovak Public Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday. What do they expect when the Russians leave Crimea, Donbass and Luhansk? “This is unrealistic.”
Fico took power last December, after his populist leftist SMER party won the elections that took place last September.
He promised to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, block Kiev's potential membership in NATO, and oppose sanctions on Russia.
The Slovak Prime Minister's interview comes ahead of a meeting between the Slovak leader and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal, scheduled for Wednesday.
“I will tell him that I am against Ukraine's membership in NATO and I will veto it,” Fico said, referring to Shmyhal. “It will just be the basis for World War III, nothing else.”
“Ukraine is not an independent and sovereign state,” Fico continued, but “is under the full influence and control of the United States.”
“I will confirm that he will not receive any weapons” from the Slovak government, Fico said, accusing Ukraine of being “one of the most corrupt countries in the world.”
In the same context, the Slovak Ministry of Culture also announced that it would resume cooperation with Russia and Belarus after suspending it in March 2022 after the start of the war in Ukraine.
Read more:
Slovak Prime Minister Fico: will veto Ukraine's NATO membership application, no more military aid to Kiev – Orban supports Hungary against EU pressure
