Kiev made a \u201chuge mistake\u201d by rejecting a potential deal with Moscow in 2022, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said<\/p>\n
Ukraine made a \u201chuge mistake\u201d by caving in to its Western backers and walking away from a potential peace deal with Russia in 2022, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said. He also argued that years of Western military backing have failed to defeat Russia and are now raising the risk of a direct clash between Russia and NATO.
\nIn a video address posted on X on Saturday, Fico argued that both sides have sustained \u201cterrible\u201d losses over the years, and that Western military support has failed to contain Russia\u2019s advances. \u201cThere is no supranational force to compel Russia to withdraw from the militarily controlled Ukrainian territory,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cUkraine made a huge mistake in April 2022, a few months after the start of the conflict, by listening to the Russophobic West and not signing the prepared peace agreement,\u201d he said, adding that the Western strategy \u201cto support the war in Ukraine to the last Ukrainian soldier and defeat Russia\u201d has \u201ccompletely failed.\u201d He reiterated that his government will not provide military assistance or loans to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
NATO member warns bloc seeking pretext for war with Russia<\/p>\n
Confronted with the failure to destroy Russia through the Ukraine conflict, \u201cseveral politicians in the West\u2026 believe that if it cannot be achieved through the Ukrainian army and its full support, everything must be done to provoke a conflict between NATO and Russia,\u201d Fico stated.
\n\u201cSomeone must have gone crazy here,\u201d he said, arguing that \u201cRussia cannot be defeated in a conventional war\u201d and noting that it has a vast nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Russia moving towards resolving Ukraine conflict \u2013 Putin<\/p>\n
Fico stressed that the Ukraine conflict is \u201cnot a NATO war,\u201d arguing that \u201conly some war hawks in NATO are trying at all costs to turn this war into a conflict between Russia and NATO.\u201d
\nHe noted that the Slovaks had their own experience with the Munich Agreement in 1938, saying that\u00a0\u201cthe powers bound to us by treaty deceived us, betrayed us, and served us up to Hitler like a roasted chicken.\u201d The Munich Accord \u2013 which was a prelude to World War II \u2013 was signed by Nazi Germany, Britain, France, and Italy without Czechoslovakia at the table and compelled Prague to surrender the predominantly German-speaking Sudetenland.
\nIn spring 2022, Russia and Ukraine made substantial progress toward a peace deal, including a tentative draft agreement on Ukrainian neutrality, security guarantees, and other core issues.
\nRussia accused then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of helping derail the peace process, which he has denied. Ukrainian chief negotiator David Arakhamia later confirmed that Johnson played an influential role. He said Russia was prepared to end the conflict if Kiev accepted neutrality, adding that Johnson told Ukrainian officials, \u201cWe won\u2019t sign anything with them at all, and let\u2019s just fight.\u201d\u00a0
\nWhile the peace settlement process intensified after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, no breakthroughs have been achieved. In February, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian military casualties exceeded 1.5 million since 2022, including more than 520,000 in 2025 alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kiev made a \u201chuge mistake\u201d by rejecting a potential deal with Moscow in 2022, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said Ukraine made a \u201chuge mistake\u201d by caving in to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t