Premier: Another Joint Session of Slovak and Ukrainian Governments Being Planned

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - Slovakia won't participate in another war loan to Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) reiterated at a press conference on Thursday in response to a journalist's question about this week's summit of the so-called Coalition of the Willing. The premier added, however, that he wants to maintain mutually beneficial bilateral relations with Ukraine. For example, he announced that another joint government meeting is planned and that it should take place in Ukraine. "I'm not planning a trip to Kiev at the moment, but we're planning another joint meeting. It should be held in Ukraine this time, because the last one was in Kosice. We're very happy to travel there, the whole government, we'll prepare specific projects, but we'll focus on peaceful cooperation," he stressed. Fico reiterated that he doesn't agree with the opinion of most EU countries on the war in Ukraine. He believes that the idea that continued financial support for Ukraine will weaken Russia is mistaken. According to him, prolonging the war will only lead to hundreds of thousands of casualties. He again stated that Slovakia won't donate weapons to Ukraine and won't send any soldiers to its territory. "The only thing I can imagine is that Slovakia, as a neighbouring country of Ukraine, could participate in monitoring a ceasefire or a kind of peace agreement," he said. However, he believes that peace negotiations are being thwarted. "There is no sincere interest in ending this conflict peacefully as quickly as possible," he said. According to him, the basic prerequisite for a peaceful settlement after the end of the war is that Ukraine won't become a NATO member. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis also commented on the issue at the press conference. He spoke, for example, about his presence at this week's summit of the willing. According to him, an open discussion took place there. "A protocol was proposed there for some ideas for the arrangement of Ukraine after the ceasefire, but we didn't learn when the ceasefire will take place," he said. He believes that most of the countries present would refuse to send their soldiers to Ukraine and announced that he isn't planning to go to Ukraine for the time being. "Not all of us have to go there," he said, pointing out that Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka will be travelling to the country and that Czech President Petr Pavel is also planning to go there. "At this moment, I see my role in Europe and in the Czech Republic," he added. am/df