Pro-Russian Slovak PM Fico visits Putin as Ukraine refuses gas transit

Fico rushed to Moscow after Kyiv declared that Ukraine would not allow Moscow to earn additional billions from gas transit through Ukraine while continuing its aggression.

Dec 23, 2024 - 07:00

Pro-Russian Slovak PM Fico visits Putin as Ukraine refuses gas transit

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico held direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 22 December 2024, Politico reports, as the Slovak leader sought to secure continued access to Russian gas supplies. Slovakia and Hungary receive Russian natural gas via pipelines crossing Ukraine, but Kyiv has announced it will not extend the transit agreement.

On December 19, Zelenskyy declared that Ukraine would not allow Moscow to “earn additional billions” from gas transit through Ukraine while continuing its aggression. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, only two other EU heads of government – Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – have visited Putin. Both visits faced widespread condemnation, with the EU’s executive arm publicly rebuking Orbán’s self-declared peace mission.

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov and Fico both termed the leftist-populist Slovak leader’s meeting with Putin as a “working visit.“

In a Facebook post following the meeting, Fico said he and Putin “exchanged views on the military situation in Ukraine, the possibility of an early peaceful end to the war, and mutual relations between the Slovak Republic and the Russian Federation, which I intend to standardize.”

Fico admitted visiting Putin “in response to Ukrainian President V. Zelenskyy, who replied to my personal question on Thursday that he was opposed to any transit of gas through Ukraine to our territory.”

In his Facebook post, Fico complained that Zelenskyy is also favoring sanctions against Russia’s nuclear program:

“With such attitudes, he is harming Slovakia financially and endangering the production of electricity in nuclear power plants in Slovakia, which is unacceptable,” he wrote.

Politico says Serbian President Aleksandr Vučić had previously hinted at the possibility of Fico’s Moscow visit, warning of potential reactions from EU leaders. Fico maintained that “the highest representatives” were informed of his trip in advance.

According to Politico, a senior advisor to Zelenskyy estimated that Slovakia earns approximately half a billion dollars annually from access to discounted Russian gas.

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