Slovak PM meets Putin in unannounced Moscow visit

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

Mr Fico, a vocal critic of the European Union’s support for Kiev during the war, said they had discussed the supply of Russian gas to Slovakia, on which his country depends.

The agreement with Russian gas giant Gazprom to send energy through Ukraine to Slovakia is due to expire at the end of the year, and Ukraine has signalled its intention not to renew it.

Mr Fico believes that Vladimir Putin has been ‘wrongly demonised’ by the West.

His visit marks a break with the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, with which all Member States are expected to comply.

Under this framework, the EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia since Mr Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Only Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban – another Putin ally – and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer have broken ranks with their EU counterparts to travel to Moscow.

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He said that Mr Putin had confirmed that he would be prepared to continue supplying gas to Slovakia, although the Slovak leader said this would be ‘practically impossible’ as Ukraine refused to renew the gas transit agreement.

He also said that he had discussed the ‘possibilities of a rapid and peaceful end to the war’ and mutual relations between Russia and Slovakia.