Putin meets Slovakia’s Fico in uncommon go to by EU chief

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Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico visited Moscow on Sunday and met with Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has stated, one of many few conferences the Russian president has had with an EU chief since he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine virtually three years in the past.

The go to, not introduced prematurely however 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 difficulty of vitality safety was additionally a key backdrop for the assembly, with Ukraine pledging to cease the transit of Russian fuel by way of its territory from the beginning of 2025.

Kyiv’s risk presents a severe problem to Slovakia, which is considered one of three EU states along with Hungary and Austria, that stay closely depending on Russian fuel piped by way of Ukraine.

Trump has claimed he can discover a answer to the battle and produce a ceasefire in Ukraine inside “a day”, elevating the prospect that he might insist Kyiv embrace a peace deal that’s considerably extra advantageous for Moscow.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Putin by telephone final month for the primary time in two years, as European leaders put together for what the beginning of Trump’s second time period might convey and maintain discussions on methods to take care of help for Ukraine.

Fico’s go to was deliberate a number of days in the past, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed a Russian state TV journalist on Sunday. He added that Putin and Fico had been assembly “one-on-one” and had been more likely to focus on present affairs and the transit of Russian fuel by way of Ukraine.

Fico, who survived an assassination try earlier this 12 months, has adopted a extra pleasant place in the direction of Moscow than different heads of EU states.

The Slovak prime minister opposed the adoption of western sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. His stance is much like that of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in neighbouring Hungary, who additionally visited Moscow in July this 12 months, inflicting an outcry from his counterparts throughout Europe.

Sunday’s go to marks the primary in-person assembly between Putin and Fico in eight years, the Tass state information company reported.