Russia-Ukraine War, live | Russia destroys nearly 50 Ukrainian drones over southern regions

2024-03-09 12:02:22

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Juraj Blanár, met this Saturday in Antalya, Turkey, with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, a meeting that has already been criticized by prominent Slovak political figures. “The ministers exchanged views on the most pressing issues on the international agenda, including the situation in Ukraine,” the Russian Foreign Ministry published in a statement accompanied by a photo of the two ministers. “Russia has confirmed its readiness to restore relations with Slovakia at the interparliamentary level and also in the cultural, humanitarian and military tribute spheres,” he added.

Lavrov is on the list of Russian charges sanctioned for the invasion of Ukraine launched by Russia in February 2022, which did not prevent the Slovak Foreign Ministry from confirming the meeting a few hours later. “Without communication there can never be a diplomatic solution and without a diplomatic solution no war would end,” Blanár argued after his meeting at the diplomatic forum in Antalya, according to an official statement from his Ministry. “I have also conveyed to you the position of the Government of the Slovak Republic based on respect for the basic principles of international law, such as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the member countries based on the UN Charter. What has happened It should never have happened in Ukraine,” Blanár added.

The meeting was held at the request of Russia, Slovakia highlighted. Slovak presidential candidate and former Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok has criticized the meeting. “This meeting shows where the current government is taking Slovakia, one more step towards burying the Visegrad Group” that brings together Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, he noted. Korcok has taken the opportunity to criticize his rival for the Slovak Presidency, Peter Pellegrini, for his silence after the meeting between Lavrov and Blanár. “You can’t take a clear stance. Can we afford a president without an opinion, especially today, when we have to explain to our citizens where we belong and why?” he has argued. From the opposition, Tomás Valásek (Progressive Slovakia) has recalled that Russia considers Slovakia an enemy country. “Blanár and other members of his party talk about peace, but his actions and words support the pro-Russian narrative and proposals that include Ukraine giving up its own territory,” he warned, according to The Slovak Spectator newspaper. ‘. Juraj Krúpa, deputy for Freedom and Solidarity, has criticized that instead of summoning the Russian ambassador after the death of the opponent Alexei Navalni, he “shakes the hand of the person closest to Vladimir Putin.” The Prime Minister, Robert Fico, has defended the appointment and has stressed that he himself endorsed it. “I knew about the meeting. I recommended the minister meet with the Russian minister,” he explained. Thus, he recalled that on Friday the Minister of Defense, Robert Kalinák, met with the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, a symptom of Slovakia’s “balanced” foreign policy.