BRATISLAVA, April 17. /TASS/. The European Union cannot weaken Russia and has nothing to offer in terms of peace, Slovak Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico reaffirmed in a speech posted on Facebook (banned in Russia as extremist) overnight on April 17.

"Given that the EU cannot offer anything in terms of peace, but still talks about 'war-war,' everyone must accept the answer as to why this is so. They [in the EU] believe that through supporting Ukraine they will weaken Russia," the Prime Minister said.

Fico criticized this approach within the bloc. He noted once again: "There is some strategy - let's bring Russia to its knees. I think this is a bad and non-working strategy. I read in the news every day that the Russians are on their knees, but they are still not on their knees. The Russians say very correctly: we only get on their knees when we tie our shoelaces, and not because someone else wants us to."

According to Slovak media, the head of government regularly points out the EU’s erroneous approach towards Russia and notes that sanctions also harm the member states of the community. He calls for a speedy end to the conflict in Ukraine and speaks of the need to normalize interaction with Russia after its conclusion.