Slovakia says it has not changed its position on supplying weapons to Ukraine

Slovak Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák said on Tuesday 7 October that Bratislava continues to oppose sending weapons to Ukraine and called the latest support package a "humanitarian issue".

Source: European Pravda with reference to Slovak news website Aktuality

Details: At a press conference on Tuesday after a visit to Kyiv, Kaliňák said that the government's position on sending military aid has not changed.

"We have clearly stated that we will no longer donate weapons and similar items to Ukraine, but will continue to provide only non-lethal, i.e. humanitarian, aid to individual states, and we are sticking to this," he said.

Background:

• Kaliňák's remarks come after he announced in Kyiv that Slovakia will provide its 14th aid package to Ukraine, which contains engineering and mine clearance assistance.
• He said that Slovakia has prepared part of the 14th package and may develop an additional package, which could include energy infrastructure components and demining equipment.
• At the beginning of the full-scale war, the Slovak government was one of the first in Europe to provide Ukraine with significant military assistance, particularly S-300 air defence systems and Soviet-era fighter jets.
• After Robert Fico returned to power, direct military aid to Ukraine ceased, and investigations were launched into the officials who had made these decisions.
• Meanwhile, defence cooperation did not stop. Fico believes that it would be hypocritical to prohibit Slovak companies from selling weapons to Ukraine.

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