After the negotiations, Fico said that he gave Putin a message from the Ukrainian leader, whom he met on Monday in Armenia. According to him, Zelensky declared his readiness for a personal meeting with Putin, regardless of the format.
According to the prime minister, the Russian side responded by saying that any initiative should come directly from the Ukrainian president through telephone contact. Putin later confirmed the delivery of the message.
At the same time, Fico praised the extension of the ceasefire until May 11 and emphasized that the ceasefire is the key to creating space for diplomacy. “Dialogue and negotiations are a thousand times more useful than killing each other,” he said.
In his statement, he also criticized the approach of the European Union. According to him, it is a mistake that the EU does not conduct an equal political dialogue with Russia and is limited primarily to sanctions. According to him, these lead to higher self-sufficiency of Russia. He also criticized the military support of Ukraine by some member states.
He also mentioned situations where some EU countries did not allow overflights over their territory when traveling to celebrate the anniversary of the victory over fascism. According to him, such steps do not contribute to strengthening mutual trust.
At the same time, the Prime Minister assured that Slovakia is not planning any retaliatory measures. “If other states need to fly over our territory, we will not prevent them from doing so,” he said, adding that it is necessary to focus on important issues, not on trifles.
