Slovakia’s Fico expects Russian war in Ukraine to end soon

The head of the Slovak government said this on Wednesday during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on European affairs before departing for the European Council, Ukrinform reports with reference to TASR.

"The probability of ending the war in Ukraine in a short time is very high," Fico said.

The Slovak prime minister voiced the expectation that the European Council meeting will indicate when this can happen, "as the topic of inviting Ukraine to NATO is suddenly being brought up." At the same time, he stated that this invitation wouldn’t be "free of charge".

According to Fico, he wishes Ukraine a just peace, but he does not know whether it is possible to achieve it under the current conditions. Against this background, the prime minister of Slovakia reaffirmed his government’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

He also announced he would support any peace plan offered to settle the Russo-Ukrainian war. Fico said that peace talks will also be on the agenda of his upcoming visit to China.

Along with this, the Slovak prime minister said he had always strived for balanced relations with Russia. In his opinion, it should be recognized that the Russians will not withdraw Crimea and other captured Ukrainian territories, and that the conflict “has no military solution”.

Against this background, Fico assured that Slovakia would continue to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine. According to the prime minister, the most necessary support at the moment is electricity supply to Ukraine. He also spoke about the expectation of cooperation from Ukraine in the issue of oil and gas imports to Slovakia.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on October 7, a meeting between the Prime Ministers of Ukraine and Slovakia, Denys Shmygal and Robert Fico, took place near Uzhhorod. The heads of governments discussed cooperation in the field of energy security and infrastructure projects.

On the same day, six trucks delivered ammunition to Ukraine, bought with money raised by 70,000 residents of Slovakia.