In his speech, Fico began by praising Donald Trump for the “energy” with which he approached peace talks, calling it “admirable.” He also commended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, agreeing that the war in Ukraine “must be stopped.

In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday, 21 February, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico actually justified Russian aggression against Ukraine and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not wanting to "hold elections".

The backdrop of these negotiations is closely tied to the political climate in the United States and Russia. Trump, aiming to bolster his image as a global negotiator in an election year, has tried to project this development as a diplomatic achievement of his administration.