Slovak PM says he wants "normal relations" with Russia after Russo-Ukrainian war is over

Oleh Pavliuk, Yevhen Kizilov — Thursday, 3 October 2024, 16:48

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says he wants normal relations with Russia after its war against Ukraine ends.

Source: Fico in a conversation with journalists on 3 October, as reported by European Pravda, citing Slovak public broadcaster RTVS

Details: Fico stated that if the war in Ukraine "ends during the mandate of this government", i.e. by 2027, "I will do everything to restore economic and normal relations with the Russian Federation".

"The European Union needs the Russian Federation, the Russian Federation needs the European Union. We will take great care to maintain friendly relations with Ukraine," the Slovak prime minister said.

He also reiterated that the war in Ukraine has no military solution, claiming that many politicians are already discussing the need for compromises regarding Ukraine, citing the president of neighbouring Czechia, Petr Pavel, as an example.

Although Fico did not specify what he meant, Pavel recently acknowledged the possibility of ending the war in Ukraine without the complete liberation of its territories.

Background:

Notably, in his speeches, the Slovak prime minister often echoes the Russian narrative about the causes of the war in Ukraine, including Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin's claim that the current Ukrainian government is running a Nazi state.
Back in August 2023, then-prime ministerial candidate Fico said the war in Ukraine began in 2014 "when the Ukrainian Nazis and fascists started to murder the Russian citizens in Donbas and Luhansk".
On 24 February 2024, the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, he claimed that the war broke out because "Ukrainian neo-Nazis" were "rampant".

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