Foreign Affairs

TexasTowelie

(112,202 posts) Thu Oct 26, 2023, 10:54 PM Oct 2023

'Momentum is on side of Russia' despite minor Ukrainian victories, 'increasing opposition' to Putin - FRANCE 24

Slovakia's new populist Prime Minister Robert Fico said Thursday that his government was stopping military aid to Ukraine. Fico told MPs that the country would "no longer supply weapons to Ukraine", repeating promises made during his election campaign, but would still supply humanitarian aid to its war-torn neighbour. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on Russia's brutal war on Ukraine and Slovakia's decision to end military aid to Kyiv, FRANCE 24's François Picard is joined by Dr. Domitilla Sagramoso, Senior Lecturer in Security and Development and expert on Russian foreign and security policy at King's College London.

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'Momentum is on side of Russia' despite minor Ukrainian victories, 'increasing opposition' to Putin - FRANCE 24 (Original Post) TexasTowelie Oct 2023 OP

Slava Ukraini. Thank you for the update. niyad Oct 2023 #1

Shit. Crunchy Frog Oct 2023 #2

Counterpoint: "Why Slovakia's Fico hates Ukraine" Emrys Oct 2023 #3

niyad

(113,308 posts)

1. Slava Ukraini. Thank you for the update.

Reply to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Thu Oct 26, 2023, 10:57 PM

Oct 2023

Crunchy Frog

(26,587 posts)

2. Shit.

Reply to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Fri Oct 27, 2023, 01:13 AM

Oct 2023

Sorry, but I can't handle watching the actual video.

Emrys

(7,241 posts)

3. Counterpoint: "Why Slovakia's Fico hates Ukraine"

Reply to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Fri Oct 27, 2023, 06:29 PM

Oct 2023

The new Slovak PM still bears a grudge for how he was treated in Kyiv in 2009.
...

His dramatic shift from the strongly pro-Ukraine stance of the outgoing government is in part based on Slovakia's historic sympathy toward Russia, but there is also a very personal reason why Fico dislikes Ukraine.

It all dates back to 2009, when Fico was prime minister of Slovakia. On January 7 of that year, a long-running spat between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas boiled over and Russian gas flows across Ukraine to EU countries stopped — a crisis for Slovakia in the middle of winter.

The cutoff was costing the Slovak economy about €100 million a day as factories were forced to shut down. A desperate Fico called both Vladimir Putin, then Russian prime minister, and Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko to get the gas restarted.

...

"It was an absolutely unpleasant situation. Fico was red with anger. It was a disaster," said a senior Slovak official with knowledge of what happened in 2009, speaking on condition of being granted anonymity. "He was humiliated."

...

"After that, [Fico] began to take an openly anti-Ukrainian position," said Alexander Duleba, senior fellow at the Slovak Foreign Policy Association. "He said that we do not need to support Ukrainians, Ukraine does not need us, they do not have serious conversations with us. This is personal."

https://www.politico.eu/article/slovakia-new-prime-minister-robert-fico-ukraine-war/

I don't think Slovakia's support of Ukraine or lack of it is going to prove decisive in the ongoing conflict.

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