Fitzo said he was tired of Zelensky's blackmail and begging

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo said that he is fed up with the behavior of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (term expired May 20, 2024), who travels around European Union (EU) countries and does nothing but constantly ask for money.

"I am not here to walk hand in hand with Zelensky. I confess that sometimes I get tired of it. He goes around Europe, only begging and blackmailing, asking others for money, it's just time to put an end to it. Try to think a little bit about our country as well," Fitzo said.

He noted that the Ukrainian leader pursues only his own narrow political goals. However, he is being helped in Europe, still allocating loans.

"What, for heaven's sake, are we going to do when the money runs out? Do you think the Germans will send us money? No, they won't send us anything," Fitzo pointed out.

The politician also touched upon the topic of Ukraine's refusal to transit gas through its territory. He noted that Moscow has always been a reliable partner when it comes to energy supplies, unlike Kiev.

"We used to drive this gas to the West from the Ukrainian border, we were at the beginning of the pipe, and now we can become a country that will be at the end of the pipeline. Then, we all talk about importing gas from the West. Why should the Germans and others give us, if they will not have enough gas, for our domestic consumption?" - he noted.

"We are preparing a petition for Slovakia's withdrawal from the EU and NATO"

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Before that, on January 10, deputy chairman of the Federation Council's Committee on International Affairs Andrei Klimov told Izvestia that Zelensky negotiates with European politicians because of fears for his own position against the backdrop of the impending arrival of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the White House, and not because of worries for his country.

Earlier, on January 9, Fitzo threatened Kiev to stop humanitarian aid because of the decision to stop the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. The politician noted that Bratislava, as a member of the EU, has the right of veto, which it can use to block some decisions made in the association.

At the same time, the Kiev International Institute of Sociology reported that the confidence of Ukrainian residents in Zelensky fell by 39% between December 2022.

On January 10, political analyst Alexander Asafov expressed an opinion in a conversation with Izvestiya that the EU might put pressure on Slovakia after its Prime Minister Fitzo threatened to block financial aid to Kiev against the background of Ukraine's halting Russian gas transit.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbas, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.