OREANDA-NEWS. Slovakia is extremely interested in the speedy settlement of the conflict in Ukraine and the restoration of its good relations with Russia. This was stated in an interview to the Russian media by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Miroslav Lajchak, who during 2019 served as the chairman of the OSCE.

“Slovakia as the OSCE Chairmanship in 2019 and as a neighbor of Ukraine is vitally interested in the peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as in restoring good relations between Russia and Ukraine”, he stressed. “We would like to see Ukraine strong, stable, prosperous and a sovereign country within the borders recognized by the international community. That is why the search for ways to resolve the conflict in the Donbass was one of the priorities of the Slovak OSCE chairmanship".

Slovakia, as Laichak recalled, at the beginning of 2019, a set of confidence-building measures was proposed in eastern Ukraine. They were aimed at mitigating the negative consequences of the conflict there for citizens living in the region. Among them: repair of the destroyed part of the bridge in Stanitsa Luganskaya, mine clearing, opening of new checkpoints on the contact line, creation of protected areas around the most important civilian infrastructure, improvement of the healthcare system, exchange of held persons.