Slovakia says it's halting arms deliveries to Ukraine

Slovakia, a small Eastern European nation that has been in the vanguard of sending arms to Ukraine, says it is halting all military aid to its embattled neighbor, a policy shift that is unlikely to change the balance of forces on the battlefield but that delivers a symbolic blow to Ukraine at a time of growing fatigue in parts of Europe after 20 months of war.

Slovakia’s newly appointed prime minister, Robert Fico, announced Thursday in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, that while he supported “comprehensive” nonmilitary aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, “I will be supporting zero military aid to Ukraine.” That would make Slovakia the first among those countries that have sent weapons to Ukraine since the war broke out to say it would stop. Slovakia’s commercial defense contracts with Ukraine for Slovak-made artillery and other defense systems, however, are expected to continue.