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Slovakia's new prime minister, Robert Fico, who took office on October 25, said his government intends to end the supply of military aid to Ukraine. The party that brought Fico to power in the recent elections, Direction — Social Democracy (SMER), had pledged to terminate the aid as part of their campaign commitments.
“It is better to negotiate peace for 10 years than to kill each other for 10 years without any result,” Ukrainian publication European Pravda quoted Fico as saying during a speech to members of the parliamentary committee on European affairs ahead of the leaders' summit in Brussels.
The Slovak prime minister also said that he would not support sanctions against Russia without first assessing their impact on the EU countries. Notably, Fico did not announce his refusal to provide humanitarian support to Ukraine. As of July this year, more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have received temporary protection in Slovakia.
After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Slovakia actively supported Kyiv by providing Ukraine with Zuzana-2 howitzers and Mi-17 helicopters. Slovakia also transferred all 13 of its MiG-29 fighter jets and the S-300 air defense system to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.