UK Ambassador to Slovakia Nigel Baker. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
British Ambassador to Slovakia Nigel Baker has said, in a video, that he is surprised by what PM Robert Fico, who chairs the strongest ruling party Smer, says about the West not supporting peace in Ukraine.
“It is Russia who has shown no interest in peace,” Baker emphasised.
He went on to remind Fico that Slovakia is also part of the West since it’s a NATO and EU member.
“To say that we or the West are not interested in peace is wrong. It's untrue,” the diplomat said, stressing that Ukraine needs a just and a sustainable peace. “A bad peace will not solve the threat of Russian aggression to European and global security.”
And while Baker is surprised, Fico is shocked by the diplomat’s critical statements about the Slovak government’s politics.
“Perhaps it would be better if he explained to Slovaks what role the former British premier Boris Johnson played when, shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, he was influencing Ukrainian political leadership to not sign a peace treaty with Russia, which guaranteed EU prospects and military neutrality to Ukraine,” Fico wrote on social media. “Or he could seek approval from his foreign secretary, David Cameron, and publish his militant appearance at the Paris summit last Monday.”
Fico repeated that he doesn’t think the West is sincere about its ambition of achieving peace in Ukraine, claiming that anti-Russian moves in the political, economic and military areas have not worked.
Last week, Fico attended an informal Paris conference where leaders discussed the option of sending troops to Ukraine. It was Fico who leaked this information hours before the start of the summit, even falsely claiming that Slovakia would have to send troops to Ukraine. He forgot to say that it would have to be approved by his government and the parliament, in which the Smer-led coalition holds a majority of 79 MPs.
“"I didn’t hear a single word about peace and peace negotiations there,” Fico said about the conference at the V4 summit in Prague last week.
Fico’s government refuses to supply military aid to Ukraine, but has pledged to keep commercial contracts running.
