In a surprise visit, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico went to Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said. It spoke about “a peaceful end to the war” in Ukraine in talks with Putin, reflecting his skepticism about the EU’s backing of Kyiv. He reaffirmed his conviction that the military solution to the conflict was impossible to achieve.
Fico wrote in a Facebook post that he had informed the EU chiefs about his trip – the third by an EU head this year – since Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Earlier, other trips to Moscow by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban came in for criticism from their EU allies.
Sources revealed that the visit had been influenced by recent consultations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which made him concerned about gas transit via Ukraine to Slovakia. In comments after a Brussels summit, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv would not extend the deal on gas transit, a decision which Fico threatened would be at the expense of Slovakia’s interests.
“President Putin confirmed that Russia was ready to continue gas supplies to the West and Slovakia, which, due to Ukraine’s position, may be impossible after January 1, 2025,” Fico said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the situation concerning European gas purchases via Ukraine as “very complicated.”. Zelenskyy took that as carefulness on both Fico and Putin, out of fear of public backlash. EU leaders understood Fico’s reluctance to reduce energy dependence on Russia, calling such aid “immoral.
Since his rise to power in 2023, Fico has recalibrated Slovakia’s foreign policy, freezing military supplies to Ukraine and condemning the Western sanctions against Moscow. The visit was widely condemned by opposition politicians, many of whom labeled it a “disgrace.”
