It was Fico's mistake to rely on schemes with Moscow - Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (photo: president.gov.ua)
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico puts Moscow's policy ahead of Slovakia's interests. Europe is now working to overcome the consequences of his decisions, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his X post.
Zelenskyy commented on the actions of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, emphasizing his miscalculations in foreign and energy policy.
“It’s good that Slovakia’s Prime Minister Fico has finally returned from his vacation at a luxurious hotel in Vietnam and is now in Bratislava. For him, personally, it must be challenging - switching from living in luxury to now trying to fix his own mistakes,” the President noted.
He called Fico's reliance on long-term cooperation with Moscow an obvious mistake.
“It was an obvious mistake for Fico to believe that his shadowy schemes with Moscow could go on indefinitely,” Zelenskyy said.
The President also recalled that Ukraine had offered Slovakia assistance in adapting to the lack of gas transit from Russia, but Fico, according to him, “arrogantly refused.”
Zelenskyy emphasized that European partners had repeatedly warned Fico about the impossibility of inaction, but now the Slovak prime minister is trying to shift the blame to others.
“Many in Europe warned him that doing nothing and waiting was not an option. Now, he’s resorting to PR, lies, and loud accusations,” the President of Ukraine said.
According to Zelenskyy, the problem is that Fico has relied on Moscow rather than on the interests of his country, united Europe, or common sense. The president called it a “losing bet from the beginning.”
At the same time, Zelenskyy expressed hope that diversification of energy sources in Europe, cooperation with the European Commission, and increased supplies of American gas would help solve the problems that arose due to the short-sightedness of some European leaders.
On January 1, Ukraine stopped transiting Russian gas to Europe, as the contract expired and the country decided not to renew it.
Before that, Fico met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukraine's refusal to transit Russian gas. After that, Fico threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine.
After this meeting, there was no official information on the whereabouts of Prime Minister Robert Fico for several weeks in Slovakia. However, later there was evidence that Fico was in a luxury hotel in Vietnam.
