President Vladimir Putin yesterday hosted Slovak Prime Minister Roberto Fico on a visit to the Kremlin, the first by an EU leader since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA news agency that Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and had a one-on-one meeting with President Putin yesterday evening.
Peskov said the talks were expected to focus on the “international situation” and Russia’s natural gas supplies.
Russian natural gas still flows through Ukraine to some European countries, including Slovakia, under a five-year prewar agreement that expires at the end of this year.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy told EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday that Fico had argued that Kiev had no intention of renewing the deal, which would harm his country’s interests.
Fico said after meeting with Putin – which was condemned by Slovakia’s opposition parties – that he briefed EU leaders on Friday about Putin’s visit.
He said the meeting in Moscow was a response to President Zelenskiy’s statement that he opposed gas transit to Slovakia through Ukraine.
Fico also said that President Zelenskiy favors sanctions against Russia’s nuclear program, which are unacceptable and go against Russia’s interests in relying on nuclear power.
Fico said Putin told him Russia was still ready to supply gas to the West. He said the two sides also discussed the military situation in Ukraine, the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the war, and bilateral relations between the two countries, adding that the Fico side would aim for “standardization”.
