BRATISLAVA, January 10. /TASS/. The West's strategy surrounding Ukraine has been a total flop, Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico said in his commentary for the Pravda newspaper.
"Frankly speaking, the West’s strategy in Ukraine does not work," he said, adding that "it was completely unsuccessful."
"Since the very beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, I rejected the black-and-white approach, which Washington and Brussels wanted. The war in Ukraine is rooted in the events of 2014, [its reasons lie also] in the development of the Ukrainian political arena, and in its attitude towards its ethnic Russian citizens. And, of course, in the US’ complete influence on everything that happened in Ukraine after 2014," Fico said.
According to the Prime Minister, the West used Russia’s actions in Ukraine after February 24, 2022, to "bring Russia to its knees." To that end, weapons and billions of dollars are being provided to the Kiev authorities.
"It is shocking how wrong the West has continued to be in its assessment of the situation in Russia," Fico noted.
He pointed out that Russia completely controls its new regions.
"The Russian economy and the Russian currency have not crashed, the anti-Russian sanctions increase this huge country’s self-sufficiency, Russian energy giants report record-high exports [of raw materials] to China and India," the prime minister said.
"I am not the kind of Slovak politician who is happy about Russia being portrayed as a mortal enemy in Slovakia, and I absolutely do not like that Russia calls us an unfriendly state because of that," Fico noted.
In his opinion, Ukraine is incapable of carrying out a counteroffensive.
"Positions of the Ukrainian President [Vladimir Zelensky] have faltered, while political support for the Russian President [Vladimir Putin] continues to grow," Fico said.
"I would not dare, of course, claim that Russia does not feel the effect of the negative consequences of its decision to use military force in Ukraine, made in February of 2022, but, in no way does it reach the degree that could destroy Russia, as the Western planners have prophesized," the prime minister noted.
Common sense calls for ceasefire
Fico predicts that the West will keep sending weapons and money to Ukraine, to no avail, for a while, noting that it is "politically impossible" for the authors of the anti-Russian campaign to acknowledge its fallacy.
"In two or three years, we will find ourselves right where we are right now. Except the EU will probably lose 50 billion euros, and cemeteries in Ukraine will be filled with thousands of fallen soldiers. Unfortunately, common sense does not prevail, even though it calls for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations," Fico said.
According to the prime minister, Russia’s negotiating position on a Ukrainian settlement will only become stronger over time.
He noted that Russia needs security guarantees, while the EU and Russia both need each other.
"As the head of the Slovakian government, I will not sow enmity towards any country. I wish for the gradual standardization of relations between EU member states and Russia," Fico said.
According to the prime minister, Bratislava intends to help Ukraine on its quest for EU membership, given it fulfills the provided preconditions.