Robert Fico of Slovakia had a message for both Moscow and Washington
Slovakia’s national interest is to promote peace and not war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Fico told the Russian ambassador to Bratislava on Thursday.
The Russian embassy confirmed that Ambassador Igor Bratchikov met with Fico and discussed both the current state of bilateral relations and its future prospects.
Fico posted on Facebook that he also met with the US envoy to Bratislava, Gautam Rana, and that he informed both the Russian and the American ambassadors of Slovakia’s policy priorities.
“I explained Slovak national priorities to both ambassadors, as well as my view of the war in Ukraine, where the EU and US strategy set up so far is clearly failing,” Fico said.
While Slovakia is a member of the EU and NATO, which “naturally affects our foreign policy priorities,” he added, that “cannot limit us in sovereign positions, which are not always in line with the EU policy of having one single correct opinion.”
The foreign policy priority I intend to implement is the protection and promotion of Slovak national-state interests, which includes supporting peace initiatives and not war in Ukraine.
Slovakia has to “prepare for the period after the end of the war in Ukraine and for the standardization of Slovak-Russian relations,” added Fico.