Slovakia refuses to supply any weapons to Ukraine, but Moscow shrugs it off

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Slovakia would not be providing military assistance to Ukraine.

"We support humanitarian and civilian assistance to Ukraine — this will be the official policy of my government. We will not supply any weapons to Ukraine,” the prime minister said at a meeting with deputies.

Politico suggested that the anti-Ukrainian position of the Slovak echelons of power could arise due to the fact that Ukraine insulted Robert Fico by giving him a cold welcome in Kyiv in 2009.

In October, Slovakia's interim government announced it would cease further military assistance to Ukraine. The decision was made against the background of negotiations on the formation of a coalition between the parties that oppose support for Kyiv.

Kremlin responds to Slovakia's decision

It is the United States that controls the process of arms supplies to Ukraine. Therefore, Slovakia's reluctance to provide military support to Kyiv is unlikely to affect this process, Kremlin official representative Dmitry Peskov said, RIA Novosti reports.

"Indeed, Slovakia did not have a large share in providing weapons to the [Ukrainian Armed Forces], so this is unlikely to affect the entire process. As for America, the main driver in this process is the United States, not Kyiv,” Peskov said.

The longer the American side continues to add fuel to the fire with its direct involvement in the conflict, the longer it will last, Peskov added.

Idea to corner Russia is naive

Slovakia's new Prime Minister Robert Fico also said that the prospect for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the new regions and the Crimea was unrealistic.

According to Fico, the idea of someone driving such a nuclear power as Russia into a corner with the help of conventional weapons is naive.

"My government's position is that an immediate cessation of hostilities is the best solution we have for Ukraine. The European Union must transform itself from an arms supplier to a peacemaker,” Fico said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his peace plan at the G20 summit in November 2022. It includes ten conditions, such as the release of all prisoners and deportees, the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the cessation of hostilities and the end of the conflict.

Russia, in turn, insists on Ukraine's neutral status, on the recognition of "new territorial realities” (the inclusion of Crimea, the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions into the country) and on the cessation of arms supplies to Ukraine.