NATO state's PM pledges to block Ukrainian membership | 6 Oct 2024 | Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has said that his country would not allow Ukraine to join NATO as long as he stays in power. Admitting Kiev into the U.S.-led military alliance would trigger a new world war, he warned in an interview with the broadcaster STVR on Sunday. "As long as I am the prime minister of the Slovak Republic, I will lead the legislators, whom I have control over as a party chairman, to never agree to Ukraine's membership in NATO," Fico said. "Ukraine's entry into NATO would serve as a good basis for a third world war." Fico, a longtime critic of Western military and financial aid to Ukraine, has insisted that the conflict must be resolved through diplomatic means. He repeatedly warned against further escalation with Moscow.