Latest news with #Robert Fico
Russia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
The West ‘used' Ukraine – EU state's PM
The West used Ukraine in a failed attempt to weaken Russia, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said. A staunch advocate for peace talks rather than the EU's military backing for Kiev, Fico made the comments in a video address posted on Facebook over the weekend, saying the Ukrainian leadership also bears responsibility, having backed the Western plan to harm Moscow by supporting the war effort. 'Ukraine was used by the West in an attempt to weaken Russia, which did not succeed – and for which, it seems, Ukraine will have to pay dearly,' Fico said. He added: 'Everyone already knows that the [Ukraine] conflict has serious roots in recent history, has no military solution, … and that Ukraine's membership in NATO is impossible.' Moscow has framed the Ukraine conflict as a NATO proxy war and has long denounced Western military aid to Kiev, saying the US-led military bloc's eastward expansion and Ukraine's ambitions to join are key drivers of the hostilities. Fico, who survived an assassination attempt by a pro-Ukraine activist over his opposition to arming Kiev, has repeatedly criticized the West's approach, warning that it threatens global security. His latest remarks come as the Russian and US leaders prepare to meet on August 15 to discuss a possible settlement. The Kremlin has said securing a permanent and stable peace will be the focus of the upcoming talks in Alaska on Friday. Russian officials insist any deal must address the root causes of the conflict and reflect the realities on the ground, including the status of Crimea, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, which joined Russia after 2022 referendums. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky, who was not invited to the Putin-Trump talks, has already rejected any truce involving territorial concessions, despite the US president's insistence that swaps would be part of the proposed agreement.
Al Jazeera
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,235
Here is how things stand on Sunday, July 13: Fighting Ukrainian officials said Russian air attacks overnight on Saturday killed at least two people in the western city of Chernivtsi and wounded 38 others across Ukraine. The raids also damaged civilian infrastructure from Kharkiv and Sumy in the northeast to Lviv, Lutsk and Chernivtsi in the west. The Russian Ministry of Defence said it attacked companies in Ukraine's military-industrial complex in Lviv, Kharkiv and Lutsk, as well as a military aerodrome. The United Nations Human Rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said that June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured. In Russia, a man was killed in the Belgorod region after a shell struck a private house, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. Politics and diplomacy North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told visiting Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov that his country was ready to 'unconditionally support' all actions taken by Moscow in Ukraine. Earlier, Lavrov held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, in Wonsan, and they issued a joint statement pledging support to safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other's countries, according to North Korean state media. Lavrov also warned the United States, South Korea and Japan against forming 'alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia'. Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, said his government hoped to reach an agreement with the European Union and its partners on guarantees that Slovakia would not suffer from the end of Russian gas supplies by Tuesday. Slovakia has been blocking the EU's 18th sanctions package on Russia over its disagreement with a proposal to end all imports of Russian gas from 2028. Slovakia, which gets the majority of its gas from Russian supplier Gazprom under a long-term deal valid until 2034, argues the move could cause shortages, a rise in prices and transit fees, and lead to damage claims. Russia blamed Western sanctions for the collapse of its agreement with the UN to facilitate exports of Russian food and fertilisers. The three-year agreement was signed in 2022 in a bid to rein in global food prices. Weapons Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was 'close to reaching a multilevel agreement' with the US 'on new Patriot systems and missiles for them'. Ukraine was stepping up production of its own interceptor systems, he added.
