Leader of Slovak National Party urges Ukraine to return €3.5 billion in aid provided by Slovakia

Andrej Danko, the leader of the Slovak National Party, would like Ukraine to return €3.5 billion in aid provided by previous Slovak governments.

"How will Zelenskyy return the €3.5 billion we sent there? For us, €3.5 billion is a huge amount of money," Danko said in his video message on Facebook.

Danko said this in reaction to information that the United States is close to concluding a deal with Ukraine that would secure a share of Ukraine's mineral resources and, according to Trump, return money invested in Ukraine, which has been resisting Russian full-scale aggression for three years.

"If the Germans, along with the French and Americans, demand the return of their money, Slovakia cannot remain silent," added Danko, who heads the Slovak National Party, a part of the government coalition.

Danko claims that three years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, people are beginning to see the light. "The Russians will stay where they are. Ukraine used this conflict [as he referred to the war – ed.] to get financial aid, which they often stole," he said.

Danko never mentioned in the video that Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago, referring to the war as "events in Ukraine" or "conflict".

He also believes that the fighting will end soon. "We'll see if Zelenskyy will betray Europe and give the minerals to Trump, because then he will be lying to the European Union," Danko said.

Earlier, Anna Bryłka, Member of the European Parliament from Poland's anti-Ukrainian Confederation party, stated that aid to Ukraine "costs money" and that Poland should have received a "guarantee of repayment" for the assistance provided.

US President Donald Trump is pressuring Zelenskyy to accept the minerals deal. On Saturday, 22 February, he said the two countries were "very close" to reaching an agreement.