FICO: WEST IS LOOKING FOR PRETEXT FOR MAJOR RUSSIA-NATO WAR

BRATISLAVA, SEPTEMBER 18 /SRNA/ - Europe is dangerously approaching a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned, accusing the West of seeking a pretext for a major conflict between the two sides.

"I am very concerned that they are simply looking for a pretext for a major conflict between NATO and Russia," Fico wrote on Facebook, accompanying a video address made before his trip to Ukraine, where he is due to meet Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and several European leaders.

Referring to the conflict in Ukraine, Fico said that hostilities had spiralled out of control, accusing European countries of using bellicose rhetoric, which he said risked drawing the continent into a wider war.

"The situation has never been as serious and tense in terms of the possibility of a pan-European conflict as it is now," he said.

Fico warned that Bratislava could come under pressure from NATO to send troops if Article 5, the collective defence clause that applies in the event of an attack on one of the Alliance's members, were activated.

"Can anyone imagine being told to prepare 5,000 or 10,000 troops who would go somewhere to fight? We do not know with whom, why or for what reason. I do not want Slovakia to become part of any military conflict because of Article 5," Fico stressed.

He added that, as prime minister, he would do everything in his power to ensure that Slovakia was never drawn into a war.