If the EU proposes to increase financial aid for Ukraine after the reduction of support from the US, at the expense of the member states, Slovakia “should not participate in such games”. After the end of the informal summit in Budapest, the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico, announced this, informs the TASR special reporter.
“If there are proposals to increase financial aid at the expense of the EU member states just because the big supporter (the USA) drops out of the game, Slovakia should not participate in such games, because the conflict has no military solution“, the prime minister declared.
According to the Prime Minister, the EU’s current strategy is that “Ukraine must win this war and Russia must lose it. Likewise, the EU has a strategy to support Ukraine militarily and financially so that it is strong enough in negotiations.”
However, he reminded his partners that from his point of view, neither of these strategies work. They are “nice strategies, but none of them work”. According to Fico, it is clear that Ukraine is not doing well militarily and that “the sanctions regime has not hurt the Russian Federation as much as expected and that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has record support”.
Fico stated that it is currently unclear what position the new US President Donald Trump will take towards Ukraine. The prime minister does not think that Trump would solve the Ukrainian conflict through force. Rather, it can take the path of compromise or reducing support for Ukraine. According to him, the current strategies of the EU will not be relevant after the reduction of support from the USA. “I can’t quite imagine that the EU would take on the entire burden of supporting the war in Ukraine,” stated Fico.
The Prime Minister also said that today, the new American president and China have a real interest in ending the war with Brazil, which have a common plan. According to him, the EU should join these actors and exert pressure to conclude a peace that would suit all parties involved.
