Bratislava/Ankara, 7 July (TASR-correspondent) – Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) welcomed what he said was the recognition by the other NATO member states that Ukraine cannot join the alliance and that other forms of cooperation with Kiev should be pursued, instead, TASR learnt from its special correspondent assigned to cover the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

Making the remarks to reporters while travelling to the NATO summit on Tuesday, Blanar reiterated that Slovakia will continue supporting the war-torn country through humanitarian assistance.

“Slovakia will continue providing humanitarian assistance and non-lethal support, as we have done so far, including Bozena demining systems, excavators, water tankers, detectors and other equipment,” the minister said.

Blanar also accentuated that Turkey is Slovakia’s ally within NATO. Responding to questions about criticism of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, he said that if Slovakia applied strict standards to all its partnerships, it would be unable to cooperate with almost any country in the Middle East.

Slovak President Peter Pellegrini travelled to Ankara on Tuesday together with Blanar and Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) to attend the NATO summit. The main part of the meeting will culminate in a session of allied leaders on Wednesday, 8 July. On Thursday, 9 July, the president is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with President Erdogan. Turkey is hosting a NATO summit for the second time.