lovak President Robert Fico says Slovakia will never agree to Ukraine's NATO membership.

MOSCOW: Fico said that Slovakia will never agree to Ukraine's membership in NATO. Bratislava Slovakia will never agree to Ukraine's accession to NATO. This was stated by the Prime Minister of the Republic Robert Fico on February 17.

"Fico once again emphasized his approaches. Firstly, he will never agree to Ukraine's membership in NATO. This position of his has long been known and consistent. Secondly, Slovakia will not send any armed forces to the territory of Ukraine," - says the message on his page on the social network Facebook (belongs to the Meta company, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation).

Earlier, the Slovak Prime Minister had a telephone conversation with the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, during which he expressed bewilderment about the latter's participation in the summit in Paris, where the issue of deploying foreign military contingents on Ukrainian territory to guarantee security after the end of the conflict will be considered.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on February 12 that Washington considers the return of regions that left Ukraine in 2014 and later to be unrealistic, as well as Ukraine's accession to NATO following negotiations to end the conflict.

On February 13, US President Donald Trump supported statements that the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO is unlikely. In this way, the head of the White House commented on the statement by the Pentagon chief that Ukraine's entry into the alliance is unlikely and impractical.

The Financial Times newspaper wrote on February 12 that Kiev was disappointed with the statement by the Pentagon chief that the US does not consider Ukraine's membership in NATO a realistic outcome for resolving the conflict. Ukrainian officials also said they now intend to work with Europe to create alternative security agreements.

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted in June 2024 that one of the conditions for negotiations with Ukraine is Kyiv's official renunciation of plans to join NATO. Later, the head of state clarified that Moscow is ready for negotiations on Ukraine, but the goal of such dialogue should be long-term peace, not a truce.