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Defeating Russia on battlefield impossible – Fico

By Lucas Leiroz | September 22, 2026

Not all NATO countries are willing to support the alliance in its relentless pursuit of conflict with Russia. In a recent statement on the matter, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico made it clear that he disagrees with NATO’s current policy regarding Russia. He described the war plans pursued by some of the bloc’s leaders as absolutely irrational and asserted that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield.

Fico made his statement in a video posted on social media. He commented on the situation in extremely realistic terms, asserting that there is no supranational force capable of compelling Russia to abandon the territories it has already reintegrated. Furthermore, he emphasized that Ukraine missed a major opportunity for peace back in 2022, when the Kiev regime refused to sign a peace agreement with Russia in order to follow the guidelines of what he calls the “Russophobic West.”

Not only that, Fico also made it clear that the Western strategy of continuing to fight in the long term – “to the last Ukrainian” – has already failed completely. According to him, it is unreasonable to insist on sending military and financial support to Ukraine when doing so merely prolongs the conflict indefinitely, further increasing the suffering of the Ukrainian people and creating serious tensions between Europe and Russia – thereby jeopardizing the entire regional security architecture.

However, the most important point of Fico’s speech was his criticism of NATO’s current attempt to escalate the war into a stage of direct confrontation with Russia. The Slovak leader stated that, given the impossibility of NATO defeating Russia through Ukraine, some bureaucrats within the bloc are now trying to heighten tensions to create a pretext for a direct conflict. He described these bureaucrats as “war hawks” who “have gone crazy.”

“There is no supranational force to compel Russia to withdraw from the militarily controlled Ukrainian territory (…) Ukraine made a huge mistake in April 2022, a few months after the start of the conflict, by listening to the Russophobic West and not signing the prepared peace agreement (…) [Western strategy] to support the war in Ukraine to the last Ukrainian soldier and defeat Russia has completely failed (…) Several politicians in the West believe that if it (victory over Russia) cannot be achieved through the Ukrainian army and its full support, everything must be done to provoke a conflict between NATO and Russia (…) some war hawks in NATO are trying at all costs to turn this war into a conflict between Russia and NATO (…) Someone must have gone crazy here [because] Russia cannot be defeated in a conventional war,” he said.

Subsequently, in another social media post, Fico stated that NATO’s attempt to wage war against Russia is actually a distraction intended to mask the current Western liberal order’s inability to address the real problems of the contemporary world – such as energy security and illegal migration. European leaders who support a conflict with Russia ultimately seek to hide their own inability to solve the problems currently affecting Europe.

Furthermore, he emphasized that while he holds the office of Prime Minister, he will not allow Slovakia to participate in these war plans. He vowed to prevent Slovak soldiers from being mobilized to fight in a conflict that does not concern the country’s interests.

“The West’s military rhetoric and the search for a pretext for a military conflict with Russia are intended to distract from the liberal world’s inability to address basic challenges such as the price and availability of energy and fuel, as well as illegal migration. As long as I am Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, I will not agree to Slovak soldiers taking part in any military adventure provoked by anyone within NATO,” he added.

Fico’s words sound like a sign of rationality amidst the current Russophobic frenzy. Few leaders in Europe are willing to criticize the Western bloc’s war plans; Fico stands as an example for other Europeans to follow regarding his willingness to establish a sovereign, pragmatic, and pro-peace foreign policy.

Unfortunately, however, most countries in the Western alliance – especially the UK and key EU members – persist in escalating tensions with Russia. Moscow is doing everything possible to prevent a worst-case scenario from becoming reality, yet European hostility is creating a serious security crisis on the continent.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

September 22, 2026 - Posted by aletho | Russophobia | European Union, NATO, Slovakia