Fico Welcomes Latest Developments in Peace Talks Aimed at Ending War in Ukraine

Bratislava, 19 August (TASR) – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on Tuesday welcomed the latest developments in resolving the military conflict in Ukraine. In a video shared on social media after a video conference with EU leaders, held the day after negotiations in Washington, Fico underlined that there are two key prerequisites for ending the war. The first condition, said Fico, is recognising that Ukraine cannot become a NATO member. The prime minister emphasised that he has supported this stance since the beginning of the war. The second condition for peace, he stated, is the need to discuss territorial changes in Ukraine. Without such a dialogue, he believes that the conflict cannot be resolved. "If these two basic understandings – one about Ukraine's NATO membership and the other about militarily controlled territories – lead to a ceasefire and to an end of the senseless killing between Slavs, the process initiated by the American President [Donald Trump] should be seen as his major personal success," said Fico. He also stated that he regrets that the European Union had to wait for Trump to show Europe a path to peace. According to him, several issues remain unresolved. Fico criticised a proposal under which Ukraine, as part of security guarantees, would purchase weapons worth €100 billion from the United States, with the sum to be covered by the EU. He called the proposal "a bad joke". He also voiced scepticism about further sanctions against Russia if the peace talks do not proceed as expected. Fico reiterated his desire for an early peace and said that he supports Ukraine's EU accession, provided it meets all the necessary conditions. In conclusion, the prime minister said that he's interested in maintaining "normal neighbourly relations" with Ukraine and therefore welcomes the expressed interest in a joint session of the Slovak and Ukrainian governments. "We're starting to look for a date and place," he added. mf/df