Slovak President promises to increase energy supply to Ukraine in autumn and winter

Peter Pellegrini, President of Slovakia, has stated during his visit to Poland that Bratislava is doing "great work" for Kyiv despite its image in the media which points at Robert Fico’s government being quite reserved in terms of support for Ukraine. Specifically, Slovakia is going to increase power supply to Ukraine in the autumn and winter.

"Since the beginning of the war we have exported over 40,000 MW of energy to Ukraine and we are going to increase the supply in the autumn and winter which will likely be detrimental for Ukraine," he said, as quoted by Slovak media outlet Pravda.

Pellegrini noted at a joint conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda that Bratislava is helping Kyiv by increasing ammunition and artillery barrels production at Slovak defence plants, as well as the export of energy to Ukraine the capabilities of which are being destroyed by Russian attacks.

He stressed that Slovakia does not recognize the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and forcible change of borders in the east and south of Ukraine by Russia.

In addition to this, Pellegrini stated that Bratislava was ready to accept more NATO troops in Slovakia if needed.

Earlier the Slovak president stated that his country is participating in the Czech initiative to purchase shells for Ukraine. In particular, the ammunition purchased is being upgraded at Slovak factories.

It should be noted that the government of Robert Fico, after coming to power, said that Slovakia would not provide military support to Ukraine and stood for a peaceful solution to the conflict.

At the same time, Robert Fico's government has not stopped commercial arms supplies to Kyiv and officially supports the recovery of Ukraine's territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.

Robert Fico described the very successful Slovak fundraising for ammunition for Ukraine as a "symbolic gesture" and compared it to "farting".