Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. Slovakia's prime minister returned to power last year after his leftist party won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's desire to do business with Russia is a security issue for both Slovakia and the whole of Europe. Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter),

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his evening address on Monday, 23 December, has once again criticised Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who on 22 December held talks with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin regarding gas supplies.

Fico arrived in Russia on a ‘working visit’ and met with Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency

The situation with European countries that buy Russian gas is very complicated and requires increased attention, the Kremlin said on Monday after talks the previous day between President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

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 the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin on Sunday with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico (shown here in Brussels in February 2024), in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

The Slovak opposition party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) has criticized Prime Minister Robert Fico's meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, calling the talks a betrayal of the country and its allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday blasted Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico over his reluctance to end his country's dependency on Russian gas, calling it a "big security issue" for Europe and saying Fico declined compensation.

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening.

Slovakia's Prime Minister visits Moscow to ensure gas supply as the Ukraine-Russia gas transit deal nears expiration, defying the EU and highlighting the country's energy dependence on Russia.