BRATISLAVA, February 19. /TASS/. There is nothing Slovakia can do at such meetings as informal summits in Paris, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
"A meeting of the ‘friends of war’ is being held today in Paris," he said in a video address posted on his Facebook page (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist). "A similar meeting too place on Monday. In this context, I had a hone call with President of the European Council Antonio Costa. I told him straight that Slovakia has nothing to do at such ‘combat’ meetings because as Slovakia’s representative at the European Council sessions I have always voiced a different view of the war and focused on [the need for] peace and putting an end to the mutual killings of Slavs in Ukraine."
According to Fico, Paris meetings stem from Europe’s "futile nervousness." In his words, it would be experient to call a regular summit of all EU leaders and acknowledge that "the world in February 2025 is absolutely different from what it was in December 2024."
He noted that today’s Ukraine is maximally weak. "Europe should take responsibility for the past three years [of the conflict] and ensure room for talks between the United States and Russia. It also should stop resenting [its absence at the talks]. It has no right for this," Fico said, adding that Europe needs to think about its own foreign policy and the new quality of relations with the United States.
He noted that membership in the European Union is vitally important for his country and that is why he would continue attending all forums and events on its development.
The Slovak prime minister stressed that his government is pursuing a policy of mutual cooperation with all countries and said that on Thursday he is leaving for a visit to the United States where he plans to discuss peaceful settlement of conflicts among other topics.