Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has arrived in Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit was reported by Kremlin propagandists and Fico himself, publishing a short video on Telegram.
Fico had previously said he might visit Russia to discuss Russian gas supplies amid Ukraine’s plans to halt its transit from 1 January. The Kremlin has not officially announced the meeting. However, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the visit had been agreed several days in advance. According to him, the talks are being held in a one-on-one format. Peskov did not specify the exact topics of discussion, suggesting that one of them will be the gas issue, Radio Liberty reports.
Robert Fico’s visit is the first time a Slovak head of government has travelled to Moscow since the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine. Western leaders have rarely visited Russia since February 2022. Among the exceptions is Austrian Chancellor and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is a political ally of Fico.