Putin: Slovakia could host peace talks with Ukraine
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Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico of attempting to assist Putin by continuing to import gas from Russia.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on the phone with Margarita Rutsinskaya, a girl from the Belgorod region, as part of the Christmas Tree of Wishes nationwide charity campaign, fulfilling children's Christmas wishes, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 24, 2024. (AP)
Russia is open to Slovakia's proposal to host peace talks with Ukraine aimed at ending the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed on Thursday.
Putin, who hosted Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin earlier this week, revealed that Fico, a vocal critic of European Union military support for Ukraine, had suggested Slovakia as a potential venue for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
The Russian President said the Slovakian authorities "...would be happy to provide their own country as a platform for negotiations. We are not opposed, if it comes to that. Why not? Since Slovakia takes such a neutral position."
Slovakia is seen as one of a growing camp of central and eastern European EU member states that are skeptical of support for Ukraine, and supportive of negotiations with Russia.
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar stated that Slovakia has long advocated for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, calling Putin's remarks a "positive signal" for ending the war.
Blanar said in a statement released on Thursday that "Slovak diplomacy is prepared to actively contribute to the peace process in this way and we have also communicated this option to the Ukrainian partners" during a joint cabinet meeting in October.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Fico of attempting to assist Putin by continuing to import gas from Russia.
Zelensky indicated that European Union leaders had observed Fico, who visited Moscow on Sunday, and his resistance to decreasing energy reliance on Russia, suggesting that this implies "he wants to help Putin earn money to fund the war and weaken Europe."
He expressed on social media platform X that "we believe that such assistance to Putin is immoral."
Putin's proposed solutions to Ukraine crisis not preconditions: Lavrov
The Ukraine crisis cannot be resolved in isolation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted on Wednesday, stressing that it should be addressed as part of broader peace and security arrangements in Europe.
"We have had no illusions and do not have any illusions regarding the prospects for an easy resolution of the Ukrainian crisis," Lavrov said in an interview for the Rossiya-1 TV channel, adding that any solutions Russian President Vladimir Putin presented as part of peace negotiations stem from international law and thus should not be regarded as "preconditions".
On Thursday, Lavrov explained that reaching a truce in the Ukrainian conflict is a path to nowhere, pointing out that Russia will not be satisfied with idle talks about a settlement.
"We cannot be satisfied with an idle talks. So far, all we hear is talk about the need to come up with some kind of truce... A truce is a path to nowhere, we need final legal agreements that will fix all the conditions for ensuring the security of Russia and the legitimate security interests of our neighbors, but in a context that will consolidate in an international legal way the impossibility of violating these agreements," the top Russian diplomat said.
