© Reuters. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava. February 19, 2010. REUTERS/Petr Josek/File Photo
(Reuters) – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico maintained that life in Kiev is “absolutely normal” and that there is no war, on the eve of his first meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal and hours after an attack Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital.
The new prime minister who won the election in Slovakia last October with a nationalist program promising to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, spoke during a briefing in eastern Slovakia. The meeting with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal is scheduled for tomorrow in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod.
A journalist asked Fico whether it would be appropriate for him to travel to Kiev for a better understanding of the war between Russia and Ukraine which is approaching its second year after the invasion by Moscow.
“There is a conflict that is localized,” Fico said, adding: “Do you really think there is a war in Kiev? You are joking, please, I hope you are not serious. Go there and you will find that in the city there is a normal life, absolutely normal.”
In the past, Fico has made statements that have shown his pro-Russian position. Many other foreign leaders traveled to Kiev – by train because of the dangers from airstrikes – to show support for Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the war, 967 airborne warnings have been issued in Kiev, for a total of 1,133 hours. City transport is stopped during the warnings and passengers are asked to take shelter. The subway and other underground areas are used as fallout shelters.
Fico ended military aid to Ukraine, but allowed continued supplies from the country’s arms and ammunition manufacturers.
The Slovak prime minister claims that military aid has the effect of prolonging the conflict, while compromises are necessary to achieve peace.
(Translated by Enrico Sciacovelli, editing by Andrea Mandalà)