Slovenia's officials and representatives of parties across the aisle have expressed their unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of a tectonic shift in the US's position three years into Russia's invasion, insisting that Ukraine must be involved as an equal partner in peace talks.

There is agreement across the board that Russia is clearly the aggressor and that a durable and just peace is not possible without Ukraine being an equal partner at the negotiating table and that Europe must muster unity in that respect.

The unified response comes after US and Russian officials held their first high-level face-to-face talks since Russia's invasion without Ukraine being invited, with US President Donald Trump blaming Ukraine for the war, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" and appearing to exclude Europe in a push to quickly end the war.

War that Ukraine did not want

Underscoring that Ukraine is involved in a war that it did not want, Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar said that enforcing peace under conditions that Ukraine could not accept would send a negative message for the resolution of conflicts elsewhere in the world.

"Europe, which started its integration on the ashes of the Second World War, has a special responsibility to support and recognise Ukraine as an equal participant in its efforts for peace, a peace that it will not sign on with a shaking hand," the president wrote in a message marking the third anniversary of the war.

After expressing his support in a phone call with Zelensky on 21 February, Prime Minister Robert Golob joined a summit of European leaders in Kyiv on 24 February via video link to reiterate that Slovenia stands with the Ukrainian people, pledging it will continue to work towards a just peace.

"Slovenia stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, as they defend their homeland. And they are not fighting only for their country but for our common values - freedom, democracy and human dignity," Golob said in the video address.

Both him and Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon underscored Slovenia's commitment to international law and its continued efforts, especially as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, to bring an end to the fighting and achieve a just peace in Ukraine in an effort that needs to involve Ukraine and the EU.

"After three years of flagrant violations of international law, Russia's aggression must end and we must achieve a ceasefire and sufficient security guarantees for Ukraine," Fajon said, also stressing the importance of accountability for the crimes committed.

Agreement across the partisan divide

The same positions have been expressed not just by the largest two coalition parties, but also the opposition, including the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), which has been in particular supportive of Donald Trump and shares many of his views.

"Ukraine as an independent and sovereign country must not fall. If that were to happen, we would be on the precipice of a 'hot war' for the eastern part of Europe," wrote SDS leader Janez Janša, who as prime minister joined his Polish and Czech counterparts in mid-March 2022 as the first foreign leaders to visit Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.

Janša argues that any permanent or formalised territorial concession to Russia's President Vladimir Putin without the consent of Ukraine would be unacceptable from a moral, political and security point of view, suggesting the US could force Putin to accept ceasefire by making concrete threats to supply Ukraine with modern weapons.

The only parliamentary party whose views do not agree with the general mood is the Left, a junior coalition partner which has been advocating pacifist views and has been opposed to increased defence spending.

It said that for the past three years, a number of European leaders had been "trying to persuade us how Russia is on its knees, how sanctions are working and how we must fight to Ukraine's final victory. In reality, they have been blindly following the geopolitical interests of the US - the superpower that has now decided that it wants to negotiate on its own and does not need its valued allies to do so".