Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has urged the West to stop empowering Ukraine militarily and instead pursue dialogue to resolve the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, stressing the West's efforts to weaken Russia through backing Ukraine are destined to fail.
In an interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Shanghai on Tuesday, Fico expressed concern that continued Western military support would only prolong the conflict.
"I believe that if the West continues to support Ukraine as it is currently doing, this conflict will be difficult to stop. I have been often criticized for this view by Western EU member states. I have repeatedly stressed that there is no military solution to a war, and Western powers should stop supporting Ukraine militarily and return to the negotiating table to discuss peace options, however complex and difficult that may be," said Fico.
"Military confrontation is pointless. I often use an analogy to describe the West's approach; they are persistently supporting the war in the Ukraine crisis, attempting to weaken Russia through it, but they are doomed to fail. Consider how many sanctions the West has imposed on Russia, how much aid they have provided to Ukraine, and how much pressure they have applied onto Russia. Yet, they haven't achieved their goal. The sanctions have caused far more problems for the EU than for Russia," Fico continued.
"In 2022, the West had the opportunity to end this conflict by respecting the agreements on the table, the agreements between Ukraine and Russia. But they didn't! The West thought, 'Let's use this war to hurt and humiliate Russia!' But this approach simply doesn't work. Therefore, the West should now admit the mistakes they made in 2022 and say, 'Let's negotiate, because Russians and Ukrainians are dying, and this war is senseless'!" he stressed.
Slovak PM urges West to stop fueling Ukraine crisis, embrace dialogue to end military confrontation
