Pellegrini Holds Talks with Zelenskyy at NATO Summit

Washington, July 11 (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the NATO summit in Washington on Wednesday, with the Slovak president claiming that the two of them engaged in an open and direct dialogue. Pellegrini at the same time stated that Slovakia and the remaining 31 NATO countries supported the final document of the summit. "The course of the summit wasn't complicated at all, as there was consensus among all member states on the final wording of the conclusions, which are presented, and therefore the whole discussion was rather in a tone in which individual member states confirmed their positions and presented their priorities," said Pellegrini, according to whom Slovakia's stances were translated into the final document as well. The president commented that Slovakia also agreed with the part of the declaration stating that Ukraine will become a NATO member on the condition that the Allies agree to this. Pellegrini and Zelenskyy discussed the current situation on the front line in Ukraine, with Pellegrini stressing that he couldn't go into details, given that the negotiations were held behind closed doors. However, he disclosed that President Zelenskyy informed him that the situation on the front line around Kharkiv differs from what the Russians are presenting. According to Pellegrini, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak also held talks with Zelenskyy and members of the Ukrainian government. "They spoke about the possibility of additional contracts for the Slovak arms industry, as it turned out that the decision of both the Slovak government and a private investor to increase capacity in the production of ammunition and barrels, or to multiply the production of our weapon systems such as Zuzana [howitzers] and others, is proving to be very effective, as there is extreme interest from several member countries in supplies of our weapon systems and ammunition," said the Slovak president. Zelenskyy allegedly inquired about the health of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and welcomed the fact that the prime ministers of the two countries had spoken on the phone and agreed on a meeting between their governments to be held in Ukraine in the autumn. Pellegrini is also expected to visit Ukraine. He stated that this trip could take place in the autumn as well. zel/df