Ukrainian foreign minister responds to Slovak counterpart's proposal about "forgiving" Russia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has responded to the statement by his Slovak counterpart Juraj Blanár about "forgiving" Russia, noting that "sense of impunity is the root cause" of Russia's crimes. 

"It's naive to expect a criminal to stop if their crime is forgiven instead of punished. Russia will hit your other cheek as well," Sybiha wrote on Х.

Sybiha also added that those "who have lost no one in this war have no right to make such statements".

Previously, Blanár expressed the opinion that resolving Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine requires re-establishing communication with Moscow.

He also stated that the West must find a way to cooperate with Russia and "perhaps even forgive everything that has happened".

Slovakia's leadership remains one of the few in Europe maintaining contact with Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has visited Moscow and met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin twice since returning to power in 2023.

Bratislava has also been stalling the adoption of new European Union sanctions against Russia.