Fico downplays possible Slovak-hosted Ukraine peace talks during visit to Lviv
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LVIV, Ukraine — Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Nov. 5 that Slovakia is always ready to help host technical-level peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, but the "right conditions and the right atmosphere" are needed.
"We are ready, but unfortunately, Slovakia is too small a player on the international scene to organize a meeting that would achieve relevant results," Fico said beside Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi during his official visit to Lviv.
Fico led a Slovak delegation to the western Ukrainian city for the fourth intergovernmental meeting, where the two sides agreed to strengthen educational, energy, and economic cooperation.
According to the Slovak leader, Koretskyi also briefed him on the situation in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Fico's latest comments seemingly downplay the suggestion made by his foreign minister, Juraj Blanar, who proposed Bratislava as a venue for preparatory peace talks during his visit to Moscow last week.
The Slovak populist leader, regarded as one of the most Kremlin-friendly voices in the EU, went on to describe Slovakia's foreign policy as fully geared toward peace and lambasted the European bloc for allegedly failing to present a relevant peace plan for Ukraine.
Fico has been a long-time critic of Western military aid to Ukraine, arguing instead that European capitals should focus on dialogue with Russia to negotiate peace.
The EU, Ukraine's strongest backer, has been involved in peace initiatives led by the U.S. Russia has repeatedly rejected several ceasefire proposals backed by Kyiv and its partners, while demanding that Ukraine cede the strategically important Donbas region.
Speaking beside Fico, Koretskyi expressed Kyiv's gratitude to the entire EU for its support, stressing that "thanks to this support, we stand, resist, see our future, and see we are not alone."
The comments come less than a week before trilateral peace talks between the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, part of Washington's renewed push for a diplomatic resolution of the war.
The Slovak-Ukrainian meeting also saw the signing of agreements to open two new bilingual schools in Ukraine and Slovakia, a memorandum on cooperation in education, research, and nuclear technology, and a memorandum on modernizing border infrastructure.
Koretskyi further thanked Bratislava for a new donation of 500,000 euros ($560,000) in energy support, namely for generators for front-line regions most affected by Russian strikes as winter nears.
Fico also underscored prospects for closer cooperation in energy and transport infrastructure — including a direct highway connection— after the war ends.
Koretskyi, in turn, said the two discussed cooperation under the EU's SAFE program, a financial tool for strengthening the bloc's defense industry.
After winning elections in 2023, Fico has ceased arms donations to Ukraine from the Slovak army stocks, even as he has allowed continued arms sales and supplies of non-lethal support.
Fico last visited Ukraine in September 2025 for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky. He was also scheduled to attend the inaugural Carpathian summit on Sept. 18 in Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, but ultimately skipped the event for health reasons.
The Slovak government has recently rejected participation in new EU funding that Kyiv seeks to plug its budget hole, just as it previously opted out of a 90-billion-euro ($100 billion) loan for the war-torn country.
While holding talks with Ukraine, Slovakia also moved to resume talks with Russia on Nov. 25 under the framework of a joint economic commission, a format that was suspended after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Slovakia has pursued closer energy and diplomatic ties with Russia under Fico's government, opposing EU plans to phase out Russian gas imports.
