The head of Ukrainian diplomacy criticized Blanár for his statement about the need for the West to forgive Russia

Bratislava/Kyiv – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha reacted on Monday on social media platform X to the statements of the head of Slovak diplomacy Juraj Blanár, who on Sunday during a television discussion called for the resumption of communication with Russia and pointed out the need for forgiveness for the events that occurred in recent years. This was reported by TASR.

Sybiha enriched his statement by attaching a photo of an article from the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, which quoted Blanár’s remarks. According to Sybiha, it is naive to expect that Russia will stop committing crimes if it is not punished.

Blanár, during the Sunday discussion program STVR O päť minút 12, where the opposition MP Tomáš Valášek (PS) was another participant, stated that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has no military solution and similar conflicts should be prevented through diplomatic means and adherence to international law.

“We must find some way of cooperation and perhaps also forgiveness for everything that has happened.” Juraj Blanár

“Let’s return to adhering to international law and let’s also seek communication with the Russian Federation,” Blanár said during the discussion. He added that Russia is a world power and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. “We must find some way of cooperation and perhaps also forgiveness for everything that has happened,” Ukrainska Pravda quoted Blanár’s words, as did most Slovak media.

Sybiha subsequently reacted to the article in Ukrainska Pravda, directly addressing the head of Slovak diplomacy.

“Juraj, the Russian sense of impunity is the main cause of crimes (by Russia). It is naive to expect that a criminal will stop if their crime is forgiven instead of punished. On the contrary, Russia will strike again. And those who have not lost anyone in this war have no right to make such statements,” declared Sybiha.

In a similar vein, MP Valášek also expressed during the television discussion that Russia is not interested in peace. According to him, the conflict would have been resolved long ago otherwise.

“As long as Russia is successful on the battlefield, it will not negotiate, it will continue to kill, rape, and abduct children, for which, by the way, Vladimir Putin is indicted and wanted by international courts. The only thing that will stop him is when he realizes that he has hit a wall, that he no longer has a chance to advance on the battlefield,” he added, stating that only then will Putin be ready to negotiate. (June 30)