Slovak PM pledges to defy ‘unacceptable' Zelensky threats
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has confirmed he will attend Russia's Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9, dismissing warnings by Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky of potential security risks as 'ridiculous.'
The May 9 parade in Moscow will mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. The Kremlin has extended invitations to the event to the leaders of Serbia, Slovakia, China, India, and Brazil, among others.
Earlier in May, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations. Zelensky rejected the offer, labeling it a 'theatrical performance' and advocated for a more substantial, unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Russian officials argue that a new temporary truce would simply allow Kiev to regroup and rearm.
Earlier this week Zelensky urged foreign leaders to avoid visiting Moscow, citing potential security risks. Russian officials accused Zelensky of endangering the safety of civilians attending the May 9 events. Fico, however, stated that the threats issued by Kiev would not deter him from participation in the commemoration.
'In my opinion, it's ridiculous. I reject such threats,' Fico said at a press conference on Sunday. 'I will go to the celebrations of the 80th anniversary [of Victory Day in Moscow].'
Fico claimed Zelensky was effectively warning invited leaders not to attend, with the veiled threat that Ukraine might retaliate in some way. 'Well, celebrate, we might throw you a drone or something like that. These are unacceptable things for me,' he said.
Referring to Zelensky's claim that Kiev could not guarantee the security of attending leaders, Fico responded: 'If Zelensky thinks that his cries will prevent foreign delegations from coming there, it is a huge mistake. Ensuring the security of participants [in the celebrations] is the responsibility of the Russian Federation,' said the Slovak prime minister.
The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, warned in April that the bloc does not want any member or candidate states attending. During a meeting last month with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who earlier pledged to attend, EC Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos reportedly cautioned that his attendance would be held against Serbia in its bid to join the EU.
Fico recommended 'Kallas and others to deal with more serious problems than whether I will go or not to the celebration of the 80th anniversary.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
9 hours ago
- Russia Today
Kiev sends the living to die, but won't accept its dead
It is sad, but peace remains elusive in the war between, on one side, Ukraine and – through Ukraine – the West and, on the other, Russia. Recently, the US has at least admitted that Moscow has plausible and important interests at stake and that the West has been using Ukraine to fight a proxy war against Russia. While very late and still incomplete, such truthfulness could help fashion the kind of realistic compromise needed to end this war. Yet Washington's European vassals have chosen this moment to discover their usually terminally atrophied capacity for talking back to the US: They clearly want the war to continue, even though that means Ukraine – about which they pretend to care – will lose even more people and territory. Against this backdrop, it was no wonder that the latest round of the renewed Istanbul talks between Russia and Ukraine produced no breakthrough, little progress, and only very modest concrete results. Also, on the eve of the talks, the Zelensky regime launched terror attacks on civilian trains in western Russia and a series of sneak drone strikes throughout the country that – in the most generous reading – involved the war crime of perfidy: That, obviously, did not help find a way forward either. Indeed, by now it is clear that Kiev's sneak drone attacks in particular have only further undermined the Zelensky regime's already fragile standing in Washington: US President Donald Trump has been explicit that he accepts Russia's right to massively retaliate, or, in the original Trumpese, 'bomb the hell' out of Ukraine. Luckily for Ukraine, Moscow is generally more restrained than America would be in a similar situation, and it should stay so. Yet the fact remains, Kiev's sneak drones have made no substantial military difference in its favor, but they have done significant political damage – to Kiev, that is. Regarding the Istanbul talks, it is likely that these assaults were meant to torpedo them. Yet Moscow did not fall for that rather transparent play. Its delegation turned up; so the Ukrainian one had to do the same. In addition, Russia ended this round of the negotiations with several good-will gestures, including an agreement to exchange POWs who are particularly young or in bad health and the offer to hand over the frozen (a common practice in war) bodies of 6,000 fallen Ukrainians. Both initiatives have run into trouble. To be precise, both are being impeded by the Ukrainian leadership. The POW swap has been delayed, and Ukrainian officials have failed to show up at the border to receive the first 1,212 of their deceased soldiers. Regarding both, Kiev has blamed Russia. Yet, remarkably, the Ukrainian statements, in reality, prove that it is indeed Kiev that is – at the very least – slowing these processes down. For what Ukrainian officials are really accusing Russia of is moving faster. The reasons for this obstructionism are unclear. The Ukrainian authorities have not shared them with the public. But there are some plausible guesses. One very likely reason why Kiev is reluctant to accept the 6,000 bodies of its own fallen soldiers is that the 'preponderant majority' of them, according to a Ukrainian member of parliament, were killed specifically during Ukraine's insane and predictably catastrophic incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Started on August 6 of last year, the operation was initially hyped by Ukrainian propagandists and their accomplices and useful idiots in the West. For the clear-eyed, it was obvious from the beginning that this was a mass kamikaze mission, wasting Ukrainian lives for no military or political advantage. Was the Zelensky regime trying to create a territorial 'bargaining chip'? Or once more 'shift the narrative,' as if wars are won by rewriting a movie script? Influence last year's US elections? Prepare for a possible victory by then presidential candidate Donald Trump? All of the above? We don't know. What we do know is that nothing Kiev may have fantasized about has worked. Indeed, by now the Kursk fiasco has only made Kiev's situation worse. Russia has retaken the territory in Kursk Region that Ukraine had seized and is advancing on the Ukrainian side of the border, taking settlements at an accelerating pace and getting close to the major regional city of Sumy. Clearly, those fallen during that particular suicide mission are evidence of Kiev's recklessness, hypocrisy, and incompetence. No wonder they seem to be less than welcome at home. A second reason for Kiev's reluctance may be even more sordid. There is speculation, for instance on social media, that it is financial. More importantly, a Russian diplomat, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, has made the same claim on the Telegram channel of the Izvestiia newspaper. For according to Ukrainian legislation, the families of the fallen soldiers are entitled to substantial compensation. Painful as it may be to acknowledge it, the Zelensky regime is not incapable of such a massive lack of piety. Whatever the precise reasons for Kiev's odd refusal to take back its prisoners and dead, they are certain to be base. This may jar with the West's well-organized and stubbornly delusional Zelensky fan club. But the best they could do for 'ordinary' Ukrainians is to put pressure on their worn-out idol to accept the prisoners and the fallen. And, of course to finally end the war.
Russia Today
10 hours ago
- Russia Today
Israeli cabinet minister tells banks to ignore EU sanctions
Israeli banks should provide services to settlers whom the European Union has slapped with sanctions, despite any potential repercussions, the country's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has insisted. He warned that those failing to comply could be made to pay out hefty compensations. Last July, the EU for the first time in its history imposed punitive measures on five Israeli settlers and three groups over 'serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians' in the occupied West Bank, which is considered part of Palestine under international law. Apart from an EU-wide entry ban and an asset freeze, the sanctions prohibit the 'provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly,' to the affected Israeli nationals. In a post on X on Wednesday, the official, who is known for his far-right views, said that he had sent a letter to the banking supervisor, Dani Khachiashvili, in which he demanded an end to 'the 'zero risk' policy on the part of banks, which leads to the abandonment of Israeli customers under the guise of compliance with foreign sanctions.' Smotrich accused Israeli financial institutions of 'small-mindedness' and unquestioning compliance with 'unjust' EU sanctions. He argued that banks in fact 'have a significant ability to act against' Brussels' punitive measures, by taking legal action and wielding their 'global economic connections.' The official threatened that if his call was not heeded, he would push for legislation that would force Israeli financial institutions to pay out sizable compensations to the affected individuals. The Israeli finance minister further wrote that he could also promote legislation that would require the Bank of Israel to 'open and manage bank accounts for citizens on whom sanctions are imposed.' Speaking to AFP last month, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said that Stockholm would 'push for EU sanctions against individual Israeli ministers' since there was no 'clear improvement for the civilians in Gaza.' At around the same time, her Slovenian colleague, Tanja Fajon, announced that her country was 'looking into the possibility of sanctions against Israel, alongside France and Ireland.' Also in May, the UK and Canada, which are not part of the EU, along with France, issued a joint statement condemning the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza. The document accused the Israeli government of denying 'essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population' of the Palestinian enclave. London, Ottawa and Paris threatened to 'take further concrete actions,' including 'targeted sanctions,' should 'egregious actions' on the part of Israel continue. The statement also demanded that Israel halt settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Russia Today
13 hours ago
- Russia Today
NATO to limit Ukraine discussions to avoid provoking Trump
NATO is going to keep discussions of Ukraine 'short' at its upcoming annual summit in the Netherlands in order to avoid provoking US President Donald Trump, Reuters has reported, citing the organizers of the event. The summit is scheduled to take place in The Hague on June 24 and 25. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky, who had once been a regular guest of honor at NATO events following the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, has not been officially invited to attend yet. The European NATO members are 'desperate to avoid upsetting a volatile Trump' during the summit, Reuters said in an article on Friday. According to the sources, the written statement summarizing the results of the event is expected to be 'unusually short' in order to reduce the chance of disagreements. Whether the document 'will even identify Russia as a threat or express support for Ukraine is still up in the air,' they said. Unlike the two previous years, the leaders of the bloc's member states do not plan to hold a formal meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council as part of the summit, the officials said. According to a diplomat from the bloc, it could be replaced by a working dinner with either foreign or defense ministers. Another senior NATO diplomat told Reuters that it would be 'at least a PR disaster' if Zelenskiy does not attend the summit in some form. According to the sources, the Ukrainian leader would have to settle for an invitation to a pre-summit dinner, hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander. This way, he could travel to The Hague without angering Trump, they explained. The US president, who is trying to broker an end to the fighting between Moscow and Kiev, had previously ruled out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO. Russia has repeatedly stated that moves towards admitting the country into the bloc would be crossing a red line and have been one of the key reasons for the conflict, insisting that Ukraine should adopt a neutral status as a key condition for a lasting peace. The New York Times reported earlier this week that Trump, who had a public spat with Zelensky at the Oval Office in February, 'reserves special animosity' for the Ukrainian leader and considers him 'a bad guy.'
