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Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, speaking to Slovakia's public broadcaster STVR on Dec. 15, argued that achieving peace in Ukraine would likely require accepting partial territorial losses and called for the immediate start of peace negotiations.
"When it comes to peace, I believe that realism must be maintained. Today, probably no sensible person in Europe believes that peace can be achieved without some partial territorial losses for Ukraine," Pellegrini said.
Pellegrini's comments come ahead of the January inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump who has vowed to get Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table for peace talks.
Pellegrini has also previously indicated his objection to immediately providing Ukraine with an invite to the NATO military alliance, stating that immediate accession was "not realistic" during wartime.
Pellegrini is an ally of Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has been a vocal critic of military aid for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
On Dec. 2, the Russian-friendly, populist prime minister criticized the EU’s new leadership over their supporting words for Ukraine, saying that the made by EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas and new president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, "did not correspond to the conclusions of the European Union."
Fico halted military aid to Ukraine from the Slovak Armed Forces' stocks after taking office in September 2023 in a stark foreign policy reversal. He recently announced he had accepted the Kremlin's invitation to attend the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow next May.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
