Danko Calls for End to Conflict and Restoration of Russia-Ukraine Relations

Bratislava, 24 February (TASR) - Junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) leader and House vice-chair Andrej Danko has called for the fastest possible end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, urging the restoration of relations between the two countries, TASR has learnt from Danko's video posted on a social network on Tuesday. "The conflict must stop as soon as possible. Relations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine must be restored," he said, adding that Ukraine isn't a member state of the European Union and NATO and cannot even become one, "whether this makes anyone angry with me or not". "In any case, I'm convinced that all those who are victims of this conflict deserve respect, regardless of which side they are on, because they are victims," he added. According to him, the war was caused by real people "who are now profiting from it, enjoying it, deepening the conflict and preventing the signing of a peace treaty". Danko also stressed that the conflict should serve as a lesson for Slovakia. "It's very easy to provoke a conflict between Slovaks and Hungarians. Let's look at our history. We have much to reproach each other for and much to forgive, because every nation has its own relations, history, traumas, problems with territories, ethnic minorities and immigrants. But tensions and conflicts are often triggered by those who benefit from them in the end". Asking himself in the video who is the winner in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, he said that neither of them, because Russia has lost its contacts and Ukraine had to give up its mineral wealth. "And it's only Ukrainians and Russians who are dying," he said, adding that it's a problem between Ukraine and Russia that they must resolve themselves, while Slovakia and the EU shouldn't let themselves be drawn into it. "And if the West thinks that its assistance is helping Ukraine, the opposite is true. What is happening is that Ukrainians are being misused," said Danko, adding that Slovakia, as a small nation, has helped Ukraine with money that could have been used for building motorways or hospitals. The war in Ukraine began on 24 February, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a "special military operation" against Ukraine, and the war has become the biggest armed conflict in Europe since WWII. jrg/df