Ukrainian and Slovak PMs hold first conversation: they may meet in early 2024

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal have held their first conversation, during which they outlined the priority areas of bilateral cooperation. The pro-Russian Slovak prime minister announced a meeting with Shmyhal in early 2024.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Shmyhal’s and Fico's posts on social media

Details: In a conversation with Shmyhal, the Slovak prime minister repeated that Bratislava would not supply Kyiv with "state warehouses and the army’s" weapons, but was still interested in providing assistance in the humanitarian and civilian spheres.

He added that Slovakia "does not believe in a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine, as it will only lead to unnecessary bloodshed without results" and will continue to ban the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.

In addition, Bratislava "supports the European perspective of Ukraine and Moldova, but together with the Western Balkan countries", and its position on the revision of the EU budget for 2024-2027, including assistance to Kyiv, has not changed.

"We will meet with Prime Minister Shmyhal at the Slovak-Ukrainian border in early 2024, and the topic of the meeting will be cooperation in the above-mentioned areas," Fico concluded.

The Ukrainian prime minister also noted that he had discussed the situation on the border with his Slovak counterpart and expressed hope that Ukraine and Slovakia would soon sign an intergovernmental agreement on control at joint border crossings.

Background:

• Robert Fico, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Slovakia, confirmed that he will not support military aid to Ukraine, as he said during the election campaign.
• Last week, after a meeting with the Russian ambassador, Fico said that Slovakia should prepare for the period after the end of the war in Ukraine and for the normalisation of Slovak-Russian relations.

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