Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin on Sunday. A visit to Moscow by the leader of an EU country is not unusual since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agency RIA that Fico arrived in Russia on a visit and met face-to-face with Putin on Sunday evening. According to Peskov, the talks focused on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas supplies.
European leaders’ meetings and phone calls with Putin have become less frequent since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Russia in July.
Orban’s visit was condemned by the leaders of Ukraine and the European Union. Fico’s views on the Ukraine war differ sharply from those of most other European leaders. Slovakia’s prime minister returned to power last year when his leftist party Smer won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russian and anti-American basis. He has since ended his country’s military aid to Ukraine. Fico criticized EU sanctions on Russia and pledged to block Ukraine from joining NATO.