Slovakia confirms it can host Ukraine-Russia peace talks

Slovakia on Friday confirmed its readiness to host peace talks aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow is open to a Slovak proposal to host peace talks with Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February of 2022.

“We offer Slovak soil for such negotiations,” Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said on Facebook.

Blanar also said any talks must take place with all parties participating, including Russia. Russian officials were not present for previous talks in June in Switzerland.

“We consider the statement of the Russian president as a positive signal to end this war, this bloodshed and this destruction as soon as possible,” Blanar said.

The foreign minister said Slovakia, a European Union and NATO member, told Ukraine in October about its availability to host peace talks.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is one of just a few European leaders who have remained close with Moscow. He prompted an angry reaction from Ukraine when he met with Putin in Moscow on Dec. 22.

Fico also has halted all Slovakian military aid to Ukraine, and he has accused Ukraine of threatening Slovakia’s supply of Russian gas.

Also on Friday, the Ukrainian air force said its air defense shot down 13 of 24 Russian drones launched in an overnight attack.

The air force said the other 11 Russian drones were “lost” without causing damage.

That comes as Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that its forces had taken control of two eastern Ukrainian villages, according to the RIA state news agency.

The ministry identified the villages as Ivanivka in the Donetsk region and Zahryzove in the Kharkiv region.

VOA could not verify the Russian report.

Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.