Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is due to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, in the Ukrainian border city of Uzhhorod on October 7, with talks ostensibly focusing on issues linked to oil and gas disputes but with Kyiv’s overall battle against Russia’s full-scale invasion likely to dominate matters.
Since returning as prime minister of Slovakia a year ago, the populist Fico has dramatically altered the NATO and EU member’s stance toward Ukraine, halting military aid to Kyiv, making a string of remarks that questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty, and calling for peace with Russia.
Fico has also come out strongly against Ukraine’s potential entry into the NATO military alliance.
“I think the question of Ukraine's NATO membership will be a decisive moment that will reveal a lot about NATO's future," he told Slovak TV at the site of a World War II battle near the northeastern Slovak village of Vysny Komarnik on October 6.
"This is something that I have openly told Prime Minister Shmyhal, the Americans, and everyone else: As long as I am a Slovak prime minister, I will instruct the lawmakers who are under my political control as leader of the [Direction-Social Democracy] party that they never agree with Ukraine's NATO membership.”
“It would only create a basis for World War III. Because you know what can happen: Once Ukraine is a NATO member and a conflict similar to the present one breaks out, it will count as an attack on a NATO member state and some extremely dangerous mechanisms can be triggered.
SEE ALSO: Wider Europe Briefing: The Mood Is Somber On Ukraine“Therefore, we strongly oppose the ideas that Ukraine should be in NATO," he said.
He did say, though, that he agrees with the possibility of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.
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In comments the day before, Fico called for an end to the fighting in Ukraine and suggested that he will likely travel to Moscow for a so-called “peace rally” at some point.
"Everyone is praying for an end to this pointless war that Western countries thought would bring Russia to its knees through Ukraine, but which has failed,” he said.
“Big companies are losing huge money [due to the war]. And you will see: The moment a peace deal is signed, everyone will rush to Russia and do the same business as before. It is simply called business as usual."
"Next year will be the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Who will stop me from going to a peace rally in Moscow?” he asked.
"I think that I will [go]. Why shouldn't I go? What does it have to do with the present?"
Slovakia and Ukraine have also been at loggerheads over the transit of Russian oil and gas, whose export fuels Moscow’s war machine.
Most EU nations boycotted the import of Russian oil and gas following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine with the exception of a few nations, including Hungary and Slovakia.
Kyiv slapped sanctions on Russia's LUKoil in June, halting the company's oil from passing through Ukraine to refineries in Slovakia and Hungary, which also has a Russia-friendly leader in Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Fico said on July 29 that his country would halt diesel supplies to Ukraine if Kyiv failed to restore oil flows from LUKoil through its territory. Ukraine needs the diesel to supply its forces.
SEE ALSO: Hungarian Minister Accuses EU Of Orchestrating Stoppage Of Russian Oil Through UkraineIn September, Hungarian energy company MOL announced it had reached a "sustainable solution" securing the transportation of oil to Hungary and Slovakia through agreements with suppliers and pipeline operators.
As part of the deal, MOL said it would "take over ownership of the affected volumes of crude oil at the Belarus-Ukraine border."
Also in September, sources told Reuters that LUKoil was set to resume oil supplies in October through the Druzhba pipeline to both countries after MOL struck its agreement.
Despite threats to shut down the pipeline, Ukraine said in late August that it will continue to meet its obligations to transit Russian oil to Europe, although disputes among the sides could still derail deliveries of oil and gas in the future.
Revenues from oil and gas exports account for the lion’s share of Russia's federal budget revenue. Washington and Brussels have sanctioned Russian energy in an attempt to starve its budget of funds to finance its invasion.