PS Slams Slovak Government for Inaction ahead of Trump-Putin Summit

Bratislava, 15 August (TASR) - Speaking at a press conference on Friday, opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party Presidium member Ivank Korcok and MP Tomas Valasek criticised the government for failing to define Slovakia's interests regarding Friday's meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. In this context, they mentioned several points that the party considers to be in Slovakia's interests. These mainly concern a ceasefire in Ukraine and issues of territorial integrity. "Perhaps the most important outcome of today's summit, in order to be able to move forward at all, would be a ceasefire. It's not possible to simply discuss what a peace agreement will look like if Russia continues to attack civilian targets as it has done so far," said Korcok, emphasising that no one other than Ukraine itself can decide on the form of the peace agreement. Korcok also considers full sovereignty for Ukraine in building its own armed forces to be important. According to him, this is the essence of security guarantees. The fourth point that PS perceives as being in Slovakia's interests is the preservation of Ukraine's sovereign right to decide where it wants to belong. Valasek claimed that the Slovak government's inaction has placed the country on the side of war. US President Donald Trump will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. They will mainly discuss ending the war in Ukraine, first in private and then in the presence of delegations. lin/df