Slovakia’s Prime Minister Snubs European Union by Meeting Putin in Kremlin

Robert Fico said he had visited Russia because Ukraine’s refusal to extend a contract to allow Russian gas to pass through it to Slovakia was ‘unacceptable.’

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, on Jan. 16, 2024. Denes Erdos/AP Photo

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.