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Slovak prime minister supports Orban’s moves for peace in Ukraine

Robert Fico warned of a risk for tensions to escalate in Ukraine

BRATISLAVA, July 6. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico expressed support to his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban for his moves to reach peace in Ukraine after Orban traveled to Kiev and Moscow.

Fico left a post on Facebook (banned in Russia as it’s owned by Meta Corporation, which is designated as an extremist organization in Russia) where he recounted his first public appearance on Friday since he had suffered an assassination attempt two months ago.

"Yesterday, at Devin, I expressed my support for the peace initiative of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who visited Kiev and Moscow recently," he wrote. "There is no military solution to the conflict in Ukraine. I am among the politicians who support an immediate ceasefire and the start of peace negotiations involving Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the US, China and the EU."

The politician warned of a risk for tensions to escalate in Ukraine.

"Peace cannot be achieved by any ultimatums or by imposing unrealistic conditions. Peace negotiations will be extremely difficult, but it would be best for the whole world if the coming months, perhaps years, of killing each other were replaced by months of difficult negotiations leading to a just peace," he went on to say.

Fico said peace in Ukraine would accelerate the talks on the country’s accession to the EU, which he said the Slovak Republic fully supports.

Orban’s trip to Moscow

Putin and Orban spent more than 2 1/2 hours holding talks in the Kremlin on Friday. The discussions were attended by delegations that included the foreign ministers of both countries. Kremlin aides Yury Ushakov and Vladimir Medinsky were also present on the Russian side. Medinsky led the Russian delegation at the Moscow-Kiev talks that were derailed by the West.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Budapest had proposed the Hungarian prime minister's visit to Russia just two days before it happened.