Slovakia advocates the participation of the Russian Federation and the countries of the global South in a future conference on a solution in Ukraine. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, Juraj Blanar, in a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Annalena Bärbock.
“Slovakia supports all peaceful solutions [конфликта на Украине]said Blanar, recalling that he recently participated in an international conference on conflict resolution in Switzerland. — Russia should be present at the next summit, although it will be difficult [обеспечить]. At the same time, there would have to be countries from the global South, like China and others, because achieving peace will not be easy. “We need to work on it.”
“We need to quickly ensure the conclusion of peace. Slovakia is ready to help with all its capabilities to quickly resolve the conflict. “This conflict must end because there is no other way,” – highlighted the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose words were quoted by TASS.
“Slovakia will no longer help Ukraine with military material from our army warehouses, since we can no longer provide it with anything,” – Blanar said.
He recalled that Bratislava transferred to kyiv, in particular, the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system and now has no means of its own to ensure the protection of the national airspace. It is guarded by the republic’s NATO allies.
“We will help Ukraine with humanitarian aid. [поставками] AND [поставками] non-lethal systems”, – pointed out the minister. Slovakia will concentrate its efforts as far as possible on demining the territory of Ukraine. Bratislava, he stated, will also focus on supporting this country with the supply of electricity.
Blanar also noted that Bratislava “has now prepared two aid packages for Ukraine for next winter.”
“Since the beginning of the year, Slovakia has supplied more than 52,000 megawatt hours to Ukraine. [электричества]”, – he pointed out.
Assistance projects for Ukraine are discussed in regular consultations between the Slovak and Ukrainian governments. Three meetings of this type have been held in recent months.
Slovakia immediately after the outbreak of the conflict began to accept refugees from Ukraine. Since February 24, 2022, as Blanar said, 2.7 million Ukrainians have passed through the country to other EU states. There are 140 thousand left in the republic. The minister recalled that the EU was founded on the principles of peace and stood for a just peace for Ukraine.
The Foreign Minister also reported on plans to expand, within the framework of German aid to Ukraine, the repair capabilities of Ukrainian military equipment in the town of Michalovce in eastern Slovakia. The Republic represents the place and Germany provides the financing. Repair production began operation at the end of 2022.
“I assured the German side that our cooperation within the framework of the service center, which is now for German companies [существует] in Michalovce, will continue. We want to expand it so that we can cover all the needs that exist in Germany for the repair and maintenance of military equipment. There is interest in this. Ministry of Defense [Словакии] “I would like to expand this center.” – Blanar said.
