The Slovak chief executive, known for his pro-Russian sympathies, has repeatedly accused the West of fueling the conflict, saying the war should be resolved through diplomacy rather than fighting.
Slovakia’s Robert Fico has vowed that he will not allow Ukraine to become a NATO member as long as he is prime minister, in a further blow to Kyiv’s aspirations to join the alliance amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
“I will ask the lawmakers under my control as chairman of the (ruling) Smer party to never agree to Ukraine joining NATO,” he said in an interview with broadcaster STVR on Sunday.
“Ukraine’s membership in NATO would be a good basis for a third world war,” added Mr. Fico, who has sharply criticized the West’s military and financial support for Ukraine since Russia launched its full invasion in early 2022.
The remarks were made ahead of Monday’s meeting between Fico and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmyhal, which is expected to focus on cooperation on energy security and infrastructure.
Regarding his position on Ukraine’s NATO membership, Mr. Fico was transparent: “This is something I said openly to Prime Minister Chmyhal, to the Americans and to all the world.”
The Slovak Prime Minister has continued to accuse the West and the United States of fueling the raging conflict, placing the responsibility on Europe.
“There is a military conflict in a neighboring country where Slavs are killing each other, and Europe is significantly supporting this killing, which I just don’t understand,” he said on Sunday.
Fico: The war cannot be resolved militarily
Mr. Fico, who survived a assassination attempt in May, is one of Moscow’s closest allies in NATO and the European Union, alongside the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
In October 2023, Mr. Fico, who resigned as Slovak Prime Minister after the assassination of the investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his partner, returned to power as part of a coalition with the center-left Hlas party and the nationalist SNS party.
During his election campaign, he insisted that “not a single ammunition” would be sent to Ukraine. However, an investigation published last week by the Slovak Spectator revealed that Mr. Fico’s government had in fact exported weapons, ammunition and other materials worth at least 112 million euros to Ukraine.
Mr. Fico has repeatedly called for “diplomatic” solutions, saying in Sunday’s interview that “everyone thinks that through Ukraine we will bring the Russians to their knees, but this problem cannot be resolved militarily.”
These comments come as Ukraine’s stocks of artillery, missiles and drones are dwindling, affecting its ability to fight.
Although the Kremlin claimed in July that it was “open to negotiations with Ukraine”Russian authorities and state media have repeatedly attempted to delegitimize the Ukrainian leader, leveling a series of allegations against Mr Zelensky, such as that he is a “Nazi” or a “drug addict”.
Earlier this year, Slovak media reported that Mr. Fico’s government was filing criminal complaints against his predecessors over the donation of fighter jets to Ukraine, saying the transfers had taken place illegally.
After being Prime Minister twicefrom 2006 to 2010 then from 2012 to 2018, Mr. Fico is now in his third term, a record, despite a plethora of controversies and scandals.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Slovak prime minister also used the opportunity to announce his trip to Moscow in May next year, calling Russia’s planned commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe a “rally for peace.”
Ukraine’s NATO membership
On the NATO front, the new alliance leader, Mark Rutte, who took office last week, pledged to strengthen Western support to Ukraine. He first visited Kyiv, where he met Mr. Zelensky.
Ukraine submitted its official application to NATO on September 30, 2022, seven months after the start of the Russian invasion.
Although all 32 NATO members have affirmed that Ukraine is on the “irreversible” path to membership at a summit in July, the Eastern European country has still not received an official invitation.
ADVERTISEMENTIn an interview with Kremlin state television broadcast in September, President Vladimir Putin said that “NATO countries, the United States, European countries are at war with Russia” if the West allows Ukraine to use long-range weapons to fight inside Russia.
