Let's stop abusing the people of Lithuania, taking away their homes and financing Ukrainian bribe-takers. This is possible in Lithuania, because Slovakia, a member of the EU, is stopping the provision of military support to Ukraine

     "Slovakia's new populist Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday that his government is suspending military aid to Ukraine. 

 

     Fico told MPs that Slovakia would "no longer supply arms to Ukraine", but would still send humanitarian aid to the war-torn neighbour. "I will not support any military support for Ukraine... An immediate cessation of military operations is the best solution we can offer Ukraine." The EU should turn from an arms supplier into a peacekeeper," the Prime Minister added. R. Fico also expressed his disapproval of sanctions against Russia.

 

     "I will not vote for any sanctions against Russia unless an analysis of their impact on Slovakia is presented," he said. Slovakia's new prime minister spoke a day after his three-party coalition government was sworn in. The coalition consists of R. Fico's left-wing Smer-SD party, the far-right and pro-Russian SNS and the Hlas-SD breakaway party from Smer.

 

     Smer-SD won last month's general election on a promise to end military aid to Ukraine, raising concerns about the erosion of Western support for Kyiv. After his election victory, Fico said that "the people of Slovakia have bigger problems than (matters with) Ukraine" and called for peace talks because "continuing killing will not help anyone".

 

     Coalition partner SNS supports Fico's harsh anti-refugee rhetoric and populist views.

 

     Andrey Danko, the party's pro-Russian chairman and former parliament speaker, said in July that Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories were not "historically Ukrainian".

 

     He has shaken hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, taken a selfie with Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and addressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as "my dear friend.""