Volodymyr Zelensky, Photo: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Friday compared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to a beggar who “goes to Europe to beg for alms”, saying he was tired of him, especially as Slovakia is affected by the decision of the Ukraine to stop the transit of Russian gas to Europe. , reports the EFE agency, quoted by Agerpres.
“I’m not here to hold President Zelenski’s hand. I admit that sometimes I get sick of him. He goes around Europe and asks for alms,” Fico said in a debate at the Business Commission foreign parliament in Bratislava.
The Slovak Prime Minister thus referred to the insistence with which Zelenski constantly asks Western allies for military and financial aid so that Ukraine can support the war caused by the Russian invasion that has lasted almost three years.
Robert Fico, a socialist politician but close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban because of his conservative positions criticized by Brussels and his refusal to support Ukraine in the war with Russia, stopped military aid to Kiev as soon as he became Prime Minister, in October 2023. , after Slovakia had offered Ukraine large quantities of weapons and ammunition, including its entire fighter fleet MiG-29 and the only S-300 anti-aircraft system it had.
Cold relations between Fico and Zelenski have become even more strained after the Ukrainian president decided not to extend after December 31, 2024 the agreement with the Russian company Gazprom regarding the transit of the gas brought by him to Europe through the pipelines that cross Ukraine.
The Slovak Prime Minister said he received assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will continue to supply gas to Slovakia via an alternative route, through the TurkStream gas pipeline with its extension, Balkan Stream. But the capacity of these pipelines is limited and transport costs are higher, so the solution does not satisfy Slovakia, which threatens Ukraine to stop the supply of electricity and aid to Ukrainian refugees if Kiev will not restore the transit of Russian gas.
Answering a question from the Slovak opposition on the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Friday at the parliamentary debate, Fico said that “Moscow had reasons to violate international law” and attack this country.
The Slovak Prime Minister recalled that in 2008, Slovakia was also damaged by a dispute between Kiev and Moscow, which also led to the stoppage of Russian gas transit through Ukraine. “If Ukraine deceives us, as it deceived us in 2008, and hurts us, we will be the first to stop humanitarian aid” to Kiev, he indicated.
