Newly elected Slovak President Pellegrini vows to renew relations with Russia

He was asked about this by TV presenters on the airwaves of Slovak TV channels - the public RTVS and the private TA3.

On cooperation with Russia

In particular, during his visit to RTVS, the politician confirmed that Slovakia will continue to cooperate with the EU and NATO and promised that from now on Slovakia's foreign policy will be "more sovereign than before."

"We have to look to all sides of the world," Pellegrini said.

"I will say this for the first time. I would like this conflict (Russian-Ukrainian - ed.) to end as soon as possible. We will again look for ways to communicate with Russia, ways to renew relations. Of course, when this conflict is over," Peter Pellegrini said.

On the situation in Ukraine

In a conversation with TA3, the newly elected Slovak head of state explained what his position as a "president of peace" would mean, on which he built his election campaign. At the same time, Pelligirini's opponent, pro-Western former Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, accuses the winner of the election and his campaign of deliberately making him a "president of war.”

"I started talking about peace not because I wanted to be better than my opponent, but because I believe that we need to stop the deaths of people right now, if we could, and only then start negotiations. How can we sustain a military conflict that has not produced any results in two years? All we have is dead people. This is an absolute tragedy," Pelligirini said.

Before that, he also kept repeating that both sides (Russia and Ukraine) should cease fire, and that the Ukrainian army should not be supplied with weapons and ammunition.

On possible assistance to Ukraine by soldiers

Speaking to TA3, Peter Pellegrini also spoke against the participation of the Slovak Armed Forces in hostilities outside the country.

"A Slovak soldier should not take part in any military conflict anywhere, including Ukraine," said the president-elect of the Slovak parliament.

At the same time, Pellegrini reaffirmed his commitment to the inviolability of Ukraine's borders.

"The Slovak Republic will never recognize the forcibly rejected parts of the territory or the annexation of Crimea. These are the things that the Slovak Republic automatically has in its foreign policy. And we will not violate it," Peter Pellegrini added.