Slovak PM meets Putin on surprise visit to Moscow

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico made a surprise visit to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin – becoming only the third Western leader to meet the Russian leader since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

Fico – a vocal critic of the EU’s support for Kiev in the war – said they discussed supplies of Russian gas to Slovakia – on which his country depends.

An agreement with Russian gas giant Gazprom for energy transit from Ukraine to Slovakia is due to expire later this year.

“Top EU officials were informed on Friday about my visit and its purpose,” Fico wrote on Facebook.

FICO said the meeting in Moscow was a response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky telling EU leaders that Ukraine opposes Russian gas being piped through its territory.

Prime Minister of Slovakia, who survived a shooting earlier this yearHe also said he had a “long conversation” with Putin and that the two “exchanged views on the military situation in Ukraine”.

The two discussed “prospects for a quick, peaceful end to the war” and mutual relations between Russia and Slovakia, Fico wrote on Facebook.

Slovakia and Hungary, which both depend on Russian gas, have raised concerns about the possibility of supply disruptions.

In October 2023, when Fico became Prime Minister again, He ended Slovakia’s military aid to Ukraine,

But he has stressed that he wants to be a “good, friendly neighbor” to Ukraine.

Fico’s meeting with Putin came as the leaders of Italy, Sweden, Greece and Finland met for a security summit on Sunday.

Speaking afterward, Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Russia posed a “permanent and dangerous threat” to the EU.

He also stressed the need to increase defense spending and support for Ukraine.