Since Russia’s invasion in February last year, Slovakia has been a staunch supporter of Kiev, donating weapons and opening its borders to war refugees.
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New Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced on Thursday that he would stop arms sales to Ukraine and limit support for his neighbor to “humanitarian and civil aid.”
“We consider aid to Ukraine exclusively as humanitarian and civil assistance and will no longer supply Ukraine with weapons,” Fico said the day after he was appointed head of a coalition government that includes a pro-Russian far-right party.
“The war in Ukraine is not ours, we have nothing to do with it,” he added.
In his opinion, “an immediate halt to military operations is the best solution for Ukraine. The EU should move from being an arms supplier to a peacemaker.”
The Kremlin immediately responded to this announcement, downplaying its significance.
“Slovakia’s share of arms deliveries.” [to Kyiv] “It was actually not that big, and therefore it will have little impact on the whole process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press, before again accusing the US of fueling the conflict by aiding Ukraine.
During his statements to MPs, Fico also announced that he would not support new sanctions against Russia “until we have analyzed their impact on Slovakia.”
“If such sanctions harm us, as most sanctions do, I see no reason to support them,” he stressed.