Slovak PM Fico Criticizes Gdansk Conference for Prioritizing Weapons Over Peace in Ukraine

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that unfortunately, the Gdansk conference on Ukraine is more focused on prolonging the war by supplying more weapons to Kiev than reaching peace, according to his remarks on Facebook (banned in Russia).

“It’s a shame that quite a large number of prime ministers and countries in the European Union support the war. More and more money is being sent to Ukraine. A military loan worth 90 billion euros was approved, and the first tranche was transferred to Ukraine today. I can say that Slovakia is not participating in this military loan in any way because we reject sustaining the war. We want to support peace. We want to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. And today's conference confirmed my view that there is no true interest in ending the war here,” Fico said.

He expressed regret that the conference in Gdansk “once again focused more on supporting Ukraine through military supplies and money so that [Ukrainians] can buy even more weapons.”

According to Fico, such an approach could prolong the conflict “for a very, very long time.” He stressed that at all events related to the conflict in Ukraine, he repeats that “people need to sit down at the negotiating table, and it is better to negotiate for three years than to spend three years killing people.”

“Slovakia is a peaceful country and does not support this military madness,” the prime minister said.