Russia’s Putin holds talks with Slovakian PM Fico, in rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin on Sunday with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency. According to Peskov, the talks would focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries.

Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban visited Russia in July. Orban’s visit drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.

Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, hit out at European Union sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining Nato.

Fico has also been a rare senior EU politician to appear on Russian state television following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with the Rossiya-1 channel in October, he vowed to attend a military parade in Moscow next May that will mark the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II.

The Kremlin has used the annual “Victory Day” celebrations to tout its battlefield prowess, and Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine as “heroes” at this year’s event.