Slovak Prime Minister wants to normalize relations with Russia and considers the Westʼs strategy regarding the war in Ukraine a “failure”

The Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico from the pro-Russian "Smer" party wrote a column for the Slovak publication "Pravda" criticizing the Westʼs strategy of supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia, calling it a "complete failure."

According to him, he rejects the "black and white vision [of the war in Ukraine], as desired in Washington or Brussels", and believes that the war, which has been going on since 2014, is taking place "under the total influence of the USA".

At the same time, the Slovak prime minister writes that Russia violated international law and used military force in response "to the security situation and pressure on Ukraine to join NATO." He compared it to the situation between the US and Iraq — "big countries often do this".

Robert Fico believes that the West allegedly did not allow the Ukrainians to conclude a truce on fair terms at the beginning of a full-scale war.

"I am not one of those Slovak politicians who are happy that the Russian Federation is being made a mortal enemy in Slovakia, and I do not like that in Russia because of this we are branded as an enemy country," Fico wrote.

In his opinion, Russia fully controls the occupied territories militarily, and the Russian economy has not been significantly affected by sanctions against Russia, citing as an example the record Russian supplies of energy resources to China and India, which "increases the self-sufficiency of this huge country." The Slovak prime minister also wrote that Putin has increased his political support. Currently, Russia is developing political and military ties with North Korea and Iran.

At the same time, Robert Fico stated that Ukraine is not capable of any significant military counter-offensive and has allegedly become "completely dependent on financial aid from the West."

The prime minister of Slovakia concluded his article by saying that he is not against seeing Ukraine in the EU if it fulfills the conditions, but believes that Russia "also needs security guarantees." And he wants to normalize relations with her: "The EU and Russia need each other."

"If I wish for something, it is for the Slavs to stop fighting among themselves for geopolitical reasons, both from the American and Russian sides," he added.

Who is Robert Fico?

At the end of October 2023, Robert Fico from the pro-Russian party “Smer” became the new prime minister of Slovakia. After that, the country announced that it would not provide military aid to Ukraine. Already on November 8, the Slovak government did not approve the 14th package of military aid to Ukraine for €40.3 million from the previous government. Almost all important aid packages from the EU before the elections in Slovakia were blocked by Hungary. Now, Slovakia can also follow her path in matters concerning Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.