Putin meets Slovakia’s Fico in rare visit by EU leader

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Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico visited Moscow on Sunday and met with Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has said, one of the few meetings the Russian president has had with an EU leader since he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago.

The visit, not announced in advance but confirmed on Sunday by the Kremlin when it shared a video of Fico in Moscow shaking Putin’s hand, follows an uptick in contacts between Russian and western politicians in anticipation of the January inauguration of Donald Trump as US president.

The issue of energy security was also a key backdrop for the meeting, with Ukraine pledging to stop the transit of Russian gas through its territory from the start of 2025.

Kyiv’s threat presents a serious challenge to Slovakia, which is one of three EU states together with Hungary and Austria, that remain heavily dependent on Russian gas piped through Ukraine.

Trump has claimed he can find a solution to the conflict and produce a ceasefire in Ukraine within “a day”, raising the prospect that he may insist Kyiv embrace a peace deal that is significantly more advantageous for Moscow.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Putin by phone last month for the first time in two years, as European leaders prepare for what the start of Trump’s second term could bring and hold discussions on ways to maintain support for Ukraine.

Fico’s visit was planned several days ago, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian state TV journalist on Sunday. He added that Putin and Fico were meeting “one-on-one” and were likely to discuss current affairs and the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.

Fico, who survived an assassination attempt earlier this year, has adopted a more friendly position towards Moscow than other heads of EU states.

The Slovak prime minister opposed the adoption of western sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. His stance is similar to that of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in neighbouring Hungary, who also visited Moscow in July this year, causing an outcry from his counterparts across Europe.

Sunday’s visit marks the first in-person meeting between Putin and Fico in eight years, the Tass state news agency reported.