Speaker of Slovak Parliament Pellegrini on war in Ukraine: We should try to resolve it diplomatically
Slovakia is helping Ukraine as much as it can but hopes to start "peace talks" with Russia to end the war.
This was stated by the Speaker of the Slovak Parliament Peter Pellegrini after the meeting of the heads of parliaments of the Visegrad group, Censor.NET reports citing TSN.
"We all stand for Ukraine and condemn Russia as an aggressor. On the other hand, after two years of war, after a lot of aid was provided last year, we are now in a dead end and do not see a solution to this conflict... It would be worth trying to create opportunities for a diplomatic solution...," Pellegrini said.
"I am not sure about a military solution without the help of diplomacy. I'm afraid that if we don't try to resolve this diplomatically, in a year we will meet here again and state that Ukraine has lost several tens of thousands more lives," the politician said, adding that this is his pragmatic opinion. He expressed hope that there would be politicians who would initiate peace talks that would "stop the killing of people."
At the same time, the head of the Slovak parliament acknowledged that it is up to Ukraine to decide how it wants to end this war and whether it is willing to join the peace talks.
Pellegrini, who has repeatedly referred to the war as the "conflict in Ukraine," complained that Slovakia is being unfairly criticized for its current position. He reminded that his country has been providing military equipment from the very beginning and continues to provide assistance "with everything it can afford." This, he said, includes humanitarian aid, support for Ukraine on its path to the EU, and efforts to ensure that tranches of EU-approved financial assistance reach Kyiv on time.
