On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi informed the representatives of the countries of the Bucharest Nine (B9) about the current situation on the front line, about developments in the military conflict, about the deployment of the most modern technologies on the battlefield, and about the loss of life. This was stated by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini after the end of the B9 summit, reports TASR’s special reporter.
- The war in Ukraine currently has no short-term military solution restoring the status quo ante.
- The killing zone on the front is approximately thirty to forty kilometers deep.
- Ukraine is waiting for a ninety billion EU loan to resume drone production.
According to the president, it seems that the war in Ukraine does not have a military solution in the short term that would definitively return the situation before its outbreak. According to him, the conflict is quite demanding. “It’s more technological. That lethal zone is already extended to more than maybe 30 to 40 kilometers, which cannot be penetrated in any way,” he told reporters.
Finance for the production of drones
According to him, Ukraine is now waiting for the funds from the 90 billion loan from the EU so that it can fully start the production of drones again, which is currently lower due to the lack of funds.
Ukraine was “significantly attacked by a strong air attack” during the meeting of representatives of the B9 countries, the president said. According to information he received from a military intelligence officer, the drones were intercepted on Wednesday in Ukrainian airspace only 50 kilometers from the Slovak border.
Support for Ukraine continues
According to Pellegrini, all partners from the Alliance, B9 and the Nordic countries agreed that support for Ukraine must continue. “Directly to my question whether President Zelensky sees a current military solution to this conflict, it was clearly said that it is not possible today due to capacity and simply due to the strength of the individual armies on both sides,” he said.
According to Pellegrini, the leaders expect that US President Donald Trump will intensify diplomatic negotiations again. In this context, he recalled that Trump will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in the coming days.
Calls for negotiations
Pellegrini also had a bilateral conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the summit of the Bucharest Nine.
“I fully supported Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who a few days ago himself emphasized what we in Slovakia have been thinking for a long time, that negotiations with the Russian Federation should also be started from the side of the European Union,” said the President of the Slovak Republic, adding that, in his opinion, there is no need to wait for an agreement from the great powers. According to him, who could represent the EU in possible negotiations with Russia will be discussed in the near future.
Slovakia and Ukraine
Zelenskyi told Pellegrini that he recently had a very good conversation with Prime Minister Roberto Fico. “That he actually perceives that after complying with those conditions, when the oil was launched through the Druzhba pipeline, Slovakia again adhered to its position that it would not block the loan to Ukraine. And he simply welcomed and perceived very positively that during the last joint conversation they agreed on mutual visits, that they agreed on the continuation of government negotiations. So it was rather a positive reaction to the current behavior of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic in relation to Ukraine,” he added.
