Fico pointed to deliberate obstacles in the negotiation process on Ukraine

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on January 8 that peace talks on Ukraine were being deliberately disrupted in order to disrupt the settlement.

"I am convinced that peace negotiations are being diligently hindered. Diligently. There is no sincere interest in ending this conflict peacefully as soon as possible," he said at a press conference after talks with Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis, broadcast on the Slovak government's YouTube channel.

Fico added that the conflict in Ukraine will continue "for many more months." He called the reason for this "the steps that are being taken." The Slovak Prime minister did not specify who exactly is preventing a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

Coalition of the Waiting: how the Europeans are imitating participation in the negotiations on Ukraine

Zelensky's consultations with France, the United Kingdom and the United States have not brought the crisis closer to resolution

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in a comment on the signing of the declaration of the "coalition of the willing" with Kiev, said that the West's plan to further militarize Ukraine was aimed at escalation and was far from a peaceful settlement. Zakharova warned that the deployment of military units on the territory of Ukraine would be regarded as an intervention and all such facilities are considered legitimate targets of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

The day before, The Times newspaper reported that France and Britain are ready to send up to 15,000 troops to Ukraine as a peacekeeping contingent after a possible peace agreement. According to the newspaper, Britain initially considered sending 10,000 troops as part of a larger 64,000‑strong coalition, but these plans were deemed unrealistic due to a shortage of personnel.

On January 6, the Coalition of the Willing signed a declaration on the deployment of the military in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron clarified that the document sets out in detail all the components of security guarantees, and the participants agreed to create a single coordination center. The next day, the newspaper Politico reported on the refusal of the United States to sign declarations on security for Ukraine.

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