The prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, has visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, in a meeting that is expected to attract criticism from Kyiv and the European Union.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s state-owned RIA news agency that Fico, 59, had arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin on Sunday evening.
Peskov said the pair were due to have talks about the “international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries to Slovakia.
Slovakia—which is land-locked and has no supplies of its own—is heavily dependent on imported gas and signed a deal with Gazprom in 2019 for Russian gas, which is pumped through a pipeline in Ukraine.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has refused to extend the existing contract, which expires on Jan. 1, 2025.
At a summit in Brussels on Dec. 19, Zelenskyy told EU leaders that Kyiv had no intention of renewing the deal.
“My meeting today was a reaction to Ukrainian President V. Zelensky, who, answering my personal question on Thursday, said he is against any transit of gas through Ukraine to our territory,” Fico said.
“The Ukrainian president is also in favor of sanctions against the Russian nuclear program.
“With such attitudes, Slovakia faces financial damages and endangers the production of electricity in nuclear power plants in Slovakia, which is unacceptable.”
Fico said Putin had told him it was “almost impossible” for Russia to continue supplying gas to Slovakia in view of Ukraine’s stance.
The Slovakian leader said he had discussed with Putin the possibility of “an early peaceful end of the war.”
He also said that next year was the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the victory over fascism, in which, he said, Russians and other nations of the former Soviet Union played a “decisive role.”
Last month, Slovakia signed a short-term pilot contract to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan, but it would cost Slovakia up to 220 million euros ($229 million) more than under the Gazprom contract.
Fico returned to power last year after his party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-U.S. platform.
He has terminated Slovakian military aid to Ukraine, criticized EU sanctions on Russia, and pledged to block Ukraine from joining NATO.
In an interview with a Russian television channel in October, Fico said the West had “prolonged the war” by supporting Ukraine.
He was attacked as he was greeting supporters after a government meeting in the former coal mining town of Handlova.
Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old amateur poet from Levice, has been charged in connection with the shooting and awaits trial.
Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was criticized when he visited Russia on a “peace trip” in July.
Orbán defended his trip.
“The number of countries that can talk to both warring sides is diminishing. Hungary is slowly becoming the only country in Europe that can speak to everyone.”
Earlier this year, it struck a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through a pipeline from Poland.
