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Slovak PM criticizes Western support for Ukraine

According to Robert Fico, the situation is unlikely to change even if military support for Ukraine continues

BUDAPEST, January 16. /TASS/. The West’s military assistance to Ukraine is senseless and only leads to more casualties, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

"It [the conflict in Ukraine] has no military solution," he told a news conference after talks with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban. "The Ukrainian army is no longer capable of matching Russia blow for blow."

According to the Slovak prime minister, the situation is unlikely to change even if military support for Ukraine continues. "In three years, we will be standing here and stating that the 50 billion euro (the EU plans to allocate as assistance to Ukraine - TASS) is a total loss, that each party [to the conflict] has lost 100,000 more troops and that neither of them has made any progress. Russians will go on controlling Donetsk and Lugansk; they will not budge, certainly not from Crimea. Russia’s negotiating position will only improve," he said,

At the same time, he said that as a Slovak he is grieved to see Slavs kill Slavs because of the geopolitical interests of some forces in the West, who are behind this conflict in Ukraine. These forces, in his words, twice banned the Kiev authorities from striking a peace agreement. He called for letting common sense prevail and stopping the exploitation of Ukraine to weaken Russia.

"The Russian economy is chugging along, the ruble is staying stable, Russia is becoming self-sufficient, Russian energy companies are reporting various record-breaking contracts for the export of energy to such countries as China and India," Fico said.

He said that he planned to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denis Shmygal, in Uzhgorod on Wednesday. "We continue to insist that we will only provide [Ukraine] with humanitarian assistance but will not send any weapons, as weapons cannot help resolve the problem in Ukraine," he added.

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Ukraine crisis Slovakia

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