Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says he observed “fear” in the Ukrainian leader’s eyes
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has expressed concerns about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s anxieties regarding Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. Fico believes that Trump’s victory could lead to a cessation of military and financial support from the US to Ukraine.
In an interview with Radio Slovakia on Saturday, Fico discussed the potential impact of Trump’s policies on global politics and the conflict in Ukraine. He recounted witnessing Zelensky’s apparent distress during the EU summit in Budapest on November 7.
“Have you ever seen a person who is afraid that the war will end? I saw him, and his name is Vladimir Zelensky,” Fico told the host, adding that Zelensky appeared “shocked that Trump won and that there could be a halt to aid from the United States.”
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the fighting in Ukraine within “24 hours,” without providing specifics on how he would accomplish this. Fico argued that the fighting will not end as long as Western countries continue providing billions of dollars in weapons to the conflict.
“That means there will be some fundamental decisions regarding the war in Ukraine,” the Prime Minister explained. “He is someone who simply doesn’t like wars as such,” Fico remarked, reflecting on how Trump, as a businessman, “prefers” tariffs and sanctions to military confrontations and suggesting that the President-elect would take “decisive steps.”
If Washington ceases funding to Kiev, the EU will also need to adjust its policies and promote negotiations instead of continuing to arm Ukraine with the hope that Russia will ultimately lose.
“We are again acting as a military cabinet in relation to Ukraine… Is the EU ready to assume all the costs of the war in Ukraine?” Fico wondered.
“There is still an opinion that if we keep supporting Ukraine, we will bring Russia to its knees, but that does not work,” he argued, urging the bloc to recognize the flaws in this logic. “The EU is a peace project, and the war must be stopped.”
EU leaders discussed in Budapest whether they could continue financing the Ukrainian military if Trump chooses to withdraw Washington’s support for Kiev, Bloomberg reported on Friday. However, according to sources, their primary concern is not financial, but rather the “available military resources that have come primarily from the US.”
Meanwhile, Zelensky seemed more focused on financial concerns, demanding roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets from the EU in the event of US withdrawal, claiming the money “rightfully belongs” to Ukraine. He also informed the summit that he was unaware of Trump’s plans but insisted that only Kiev should “decide what should and should not be on the agenda for ending this war.”