A Slovakian left-wing opposition party calling for suspending military aid to Ukraine has come out on top in the country's parliamentary election.

Slovakia is a member of the NATO military alliance backing Ukraine against Russia.

The Smer-SSD party led by Slovakia's former Prime Minister Robert Fico received about 23 percent of the vote in Saturday's election.

Fico told a news conference he's going to turn attention to fighting rising prices and other problems, saying "I want to remind you that Slovakia has different problems than Ukraine."

Fico and his party blame sanctions against Russia for surging prices that have squeezed Slovaks.
Fico claimed peace talks are necessary to end the Russian invasion, stressing the stance to stop military support for Ukraine.

Slovakia was the first NATO member to send fighter jets to neighboring Ukraine. And it was aligned with the European Union on sanctions against Russia.

Fico said he will seek coalition partners to form a new government in the next two weeks or so. It remains to be seen whether that coalition will halt military support to Ukraine.