President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shared his memories of a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, during which he emphasised the need to condemn Russian aggression.

Source : Zelenskyy in an interview with Polish media during his visit to Warsaw on 15 January, as reported by European Pravda

Details : Zelenskyy was asked about the rise of pro-Russian sentiment in some European countries, particularly Slovakia.

In his view, the issue in Slovakia is that "their politicians aren't fully aware of or understand what war is and they simply take advantage of the situation".

"People in Slovakia naturally have different opinions, but the Slovak government is playing perilous games and it's doing so because the war has not come to their home. They don't understand this. And I believe that evil must be punished," Zelenskyy added.

He went on to recall a conversation with Robert Fico, which, judging by the context, took place at an EU summit.

"He told me that 'we still need to figure out where evil is and where it’s not' and I replied that we cannot forgive a murderer. I asked him, 'You were shot at. Why didn't you forgive the assassin? Why did you have the person who shot at you detained?'" the president said.

Zelenskyy further reminded Fico that he and other European leaders had condemned the assassination attempt, "because shooting people is a crime. And Putin does the same; he shoots at other people".

Background: 

• In recent days, relations between Ukraine and Slovakia have sharply deteriorated after the Slovak prime minister began to criticise Kyiv and Zelenskyy personally over the suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine.
• Fico also issued a list of threats against Kyiv, including the potential use of a veto by Bratislava on EU decisions regarding Ukraine.

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