AP
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hosted Slovak Prime Minister Roberto Fico on a visit to the Kremlin, the first by an EU leader since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency that Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and had a one-on-one meeting with President Putin on Sunday night. Peskov said the talks will 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. At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told EU leaders that Kiev had no intention of renewing the deal, which Fico had argued would harm his country’s interests. .
Slovakia last month signed a short-term trial contract to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan in preparation for a possible cutoff of Russian supplies via Ukraine. Earlier this year, it signed a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through a pipeline from Poland.
The country can also receive gas through the Austrian, Hungarian and Czech networks, allowing imports from Germany, among other potential suppliers.
It has been rare for European leaders to visit or call Putin since Russia sent troops to Ukraine, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Russia in July. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met with President Putin just weeks after the start of all-out war. Both visits drew condemnation from Kiev and European leaders.
Mr. Orbán is widely seen as having the friendliest relationship with Mr. Putin among EU leaders, but he has supported Kiev and supported the EU’s efforts to impose sanctions on the Russian government for its actions in Ukraine. It has been routinely blocked, delayed, and watered down. He has long advocated for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, but did not outline what that would mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security.
Fico’s views on Russia’s war with Ukraine are very different from those of most other European leaders. Slovakia’s prime minister returned to power last year after his pro-Russian, anti-American leftist party Smer (Direction) won a parliamentary election. Since then, he has cut off his country’s military aid to Ukraine, slammed EU sanctions against Russia and vowed to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
Fico is also the rare senior EU politician to appear on Russian state television after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In an October interview with Russia 1 channel, he claimed that the West had “prolonged the war” by supporting Ukraine, adding that sanctions against Russia had been ineffective. He declared his readiness to negotiate with President Putin.
He also vowed to take part in a military parade in Moscow next May to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II. The Kremlin uses its annual Victory Day celebrations to tout valor on the battlefield, and Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine as “heroes” at this year’s event.
