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Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has responded to remarks by his Slovak counterpart, Juraj Blanár, who suggested that the West should “forgive” Russia for what has happened in the context of the war it launched.
Sybiha addressed Blanár in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that “the sense of impunity is the root cause of Russia’s crimes.”
“It’s naïve to expect a criminal to stop committing crimes if they are forgiven rather than punished. Russia will strike the other cheek as well,” he emphasized.
The Ukrainian FM also added that those “who haven’t lost anyone in this war have no right to make such statements.”
To recap, Blanár had expressed the opinion that resolving Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine requires restoring communication with Moscow.
The Slovak foreign minister also stated that the West must find a way to cooperate with Russia, or “even forgive everything that happened.”
Representatives of the Slovak government are among the few in Europe who continue to maintain contacts with Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has visited Moscow twice since coming to power in 2023 and met with Vladimir Putin.
In addition, Bratislava has been obstructing the adoption of new EU sanctions against Russia.
Read also: West still supplying equipment to Russia – Zelenskyy
