Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has been repeatedly characterized by cynical statements, has said that Ukraine should cede the territories occupied by Russia in order to end the war.
He said this to Slovak public TV channel RTVS.
"There has to be some kind of compromise. Why do they (Ukrainians) expect Russians to leave Crimea, Donbas and Luhansk? This is unrealistic," Fico stated.
Fico also confirmed his position to block Ukraine's accession to NATO. Ahead of a planned meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, he said he would veto the decision.
"I will say that I am against Ukraine's membership in NATO and I will veto it. It would just be an excuse for World War III, nothing else," Fico said.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry speaker Oleh Nikolenko responded to Fico's statement about a "territorial compromise" with Russia by saying it is completely out of the question.
He added that Ukraine and partners are making efforts to withdraw Russians from Crimea, Donbass and Luhansk, so that they do not go further - in particular, also to Košice, Pryašiv and other Slovak regions.
"Let us speak frankly: without security in Ukraine, there will be no security either in Slovakia or in Europe in general. We have joint efforts to bring Ukrainian victory closer", - said the speaker of the Foreign Ministry.
Earlier "Apostrophe" reported that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has openly admitted that he started the war in Ukraine in order to occupy our country.