British Embassy: Ambassador Baker's Statement Reflects Opinion of British Gov't

Bratislava, November 1 (TASR) - The statement by British Ambassador to Slovakia Nigel Baker about Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) appearance on Russian television reflects the opinion of the British Government and the Ambassador stands behind his words, TASR was told by the British Embassy in Bratislava on Friday. "At the same time, he won't bother the people with a public exchange of opinions with the Prime Minister during the All-Saints weekend," added the Embassy. Earlier in the day, during his official visit to China, Fico responded to Baker's criticism of the Prime Minister's appearance on the Russian television by calling on the Ambassador to refrain from interfering with the "sovereign Slovak government's policy". On Russia-1's '60 Minutes' hosted by Olga Skabeyeva, Fico blamed the West for not showing any interest in peace in Ukraine. He reiterated that a peace agreement had been on the table that could have ended the war as early as in April 2022, but this was prevented by Western politicians. The Slovak Prime Minister stated that Russia is on its knees only when it's "tying up its shoelaces" and claimed that Europe has stopped using the word 'peace' altogether. mf/mcs