Slovakia, a small Eastern European nation that has been in the vanguard of sending arms to Ukraine, says it is halting all military aid to its embattled neighbor, a policy shift that is unlikely to change the balance of forces on the battlefield but that delivers a symbolic blow to Kyiv at a time of growing fatigue in parts of Europe after 20 months of war.
Slovakia’s newly appointed prime minister, Robert Fico, announced on Thursday in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, that while he supported “comprehensive” nonmilitary aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, “I will be supporting zero military aid to Ukraine.”That would make Slovakia the first among those countries that have sent weapons to Kyiv since the war broke out to say it would stop.
Slovakia’s commercial defense contracts with Ukraine for Slovak-made artillery and other defense systems, however, are expected to continue.
Mr. Fico, who made his remarks to a parliamentary committee on European Union affairs, did not say whether Slovakia, which shares a border with Ukraine and has rail and road links to the country, would continue to serve as a transit route for weapons supplied by other Western countries.
Poland has been the main transit country for such shipments, but Slovakia has also been used to deliver weapons from the Czech Republic and some other countries.
Persons:
Slovakia’s, Robert Fico, “, Fico
Organizations:
Ukraine, European Union
Locations:
Slovakia, Ukraine, Europe, Bratislava, Russia, ”, Slovak, Poland, Czech Republic