Slovakia's PM faces backlash after criticizing Zelensky
Tensions are rising between Ukraine and Slovakia. After Slovakia's pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico made disparaging remarks about Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, the latter decided to respond.
"It’s good that Slovakia’s Prime Minister Fico has finally returned from his vacation at a luxurious hotel in Vietnam and is now in Bratislava. For him, personally, it must be challenging—switching from living in luxury to now trying to fix his own mistakes. It was an obvious mistake for Fico to believe that his shadowy schemes with Moscow could go on indefinitely." wrote President Zelensky.
Fico "arrogantly rejected" assistance
Zelensky added, "We offered our assistance to the people of Slovakia during their adaptation to the absence of Russian gas transit, but Fico arrogantly refused."
"Many in Europe warned him that doing nothing and waiting was not an option. Now, he’s resorting to PR, lies, and loud accusations to shift the blame away from himself onto someone else," reads Zelensky's post.
The President of Ukraine believes that "the real problem is that he bet on Moscow, not on his own country, not on a united Europe, and certainly not on common sense. From the beginning, it was a losing bet," comments the Ukrainian leader.
"We hope that further diversification of energy supply sources in Europe, cooperation with the European Commission, and the implementation of President Trump’s policy to increase American gas supplies to the continent will help address the challenges caused by the shortsightedness of certain European figures," concluded Zelensky.
Fico hits Zelensky. "Has had enough of him"
On Friday, Prime Minister Fico insulted Zelensky. His inappropriate comments were made during an appearance at a parliamentary committee meeting on Friday.
The meeting was convened by the opposition, which demanded explanations from Fico about his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and information on Slovakia's further steps regarding the interruption of Russian gas transit through Ukraine.
Fico called the President of Ukraine "unbelievable" and admitted that he sometimes "has had enough of him."
- He [Zelenskyy] goes around Europe just begging and blackmailing others, asking for money. It just has to stop - stated the Prime Minister of Slovakia. At the same time, he declared that Russia has always been a reliable partner when it comes to energy supplies.
- Russia has never deceived us, unlike Ukraine. I remember the situation in 2009 when I was in Ukraine and asked Ukrainian Prime Minister [Yulia] Tymoshenko to give us some gas from the reservoirs they have in the western part of Ukraine, and I was told to go to hell. These are typical Ukrainians - Fico complained.
