Prime Minister Robert Abela has said that to establish peace in Ukraine, compromises will need to be made.

Speaking during an interview on ONE TV, Abela said that tens of thousands of innocent lives have been lost in the war. "We always recognized that this was unjust aggression by Russia on Ukraine, and that principle remains," he said. Malta was one of the first, he said, to say that the main solution must be peace. "While there are some discussing the theme of peace, concretely from a European aspect, we are not seeing a strong movement for strong attempts to restore peace."

"The message by the Italian Prime Minister was to set up a summit between the EU, USA and allies to discuss challenges, mainly the situation in Ukraine. We agree with that message. After consulting Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg we made an offer to the USA through diplomatic channels, for Malta to host the summit. One still needs to see if that offer is accepted, but it is an offer that emerges from what we truly believe in. There is no other solution except to sit down around a table and establish peace. To establish peace naturally certain compromises need to be made."

"If we have a situation, which I hope is not the case in a Brussels EU summit next week, of the dragging of feet or of messages we have seen over the past months that the only way this war will end is that Ukraine must win... let's be realistic with ourselves. I don't think that circumstance can ever come to be."

"To say that Europe must do all that is needed including pumping billions of euros in arms for Ukraine to win the war, I don't believe can happen. I never believed it, and today I don't believe it even more."

"But I am sure that on Thursday there will be some who will push that message. I won't be one of those to push that kind of 'solution'. I don't believe that is a solution. I also don't believe that the EU can continue financing this war alone without the intervention and assistance of the USA. There are those who believe it could. Those who believe that whatever the USA does, even if it withdraws its financial support, that we can still finance this war, is entering dangerous territory. It would mean burdening our peoples with disproportionate financial expenses that would mean that countries around Europe would need to start cutting from more important areas like healthcare, investment in the economy, the environment, to finance a war. Is this a line of thought that makes sense? It worries me as there are a number who believe that needs to be the road. That is also why I think Europe is fragmented, as there are those who believe we should go one way, and others the other way."

The episode this week, in reference to the row between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, makes one think about what will happen in the coming months, he said.

He said that condemning one side or the other would be a mistake. "If we as a country are offering to be an interlocutor for peace, offering for there to be a summit like in 1989, if we disbalance ourselves in favour of one side against the other we would not be credible in that offer."

He said that Malta's neutrality is the biggest advantage Malta has right now in this moment in history.

"The line of thought that we need to continue investing in the arms economy is a mistake," he said. "I'm not saying Europe should not have its defence, but it should not prioritise arms investment in the European economy."

"Was there progress over the past three years? No," he said adding that the situation has not resulted in resolution to the wars between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East.

The approach, he said, was wrong. "Strategic decisions taken until today were not good. You can agree or not with what the US administration is saying today, but that there was movement in the situation and I think in the end there was someone who is saying that things cannot keep on going as they are, you must recognise."

"Now comes the how, in order to safeguard the realities of Ukraine, as it has its territory and the needs of its people which must be safeguarded. The Ukrainian people are suffering, as are the genuine Russian people due to the decisions taken by its leadership, and European people are also suffering, lets not forget the inflation crisis we passed through due to the two wars."

He said there are those who see economic advantage for their country regarding the arms industry.

During the interview, the Prime Minister also spoke about the ongoing discussions regarding the BCRS scheme and said that it is a good initiative to collect plastic. However, he emphasized that the operator cannot remain indifferent to the service provided; otherwise, the Government will intervene to offer solutions.

On the reform of magisterial inquiries, the Prime Minister said that following the Court's recent decisions rejecting the opening of inquiries requested by former Nationalist Party MP Jason Azzopardi, the need for the changes proposed by the Government is being felt even more. He said that when there are abusive inquiries and the Court finds that they were made maliciously, a deterrent should be introduced, especially in cases where individuals and businesses suffer damage.

Abela said that the government also wants to grant more rights to victims of incidents and their relatives, as currently, during an inquiry, they are left in the dark. With the reform, they will have the right to be informed every six months about the progress, he said.