Peskov added that “it is easy to think” that energy relations will be on the agenda. The diplomatic visit comes as Slovakia and Hungary seek a deal to avoid being cut off from Russian gas supplies when a key transit agreement with Ukraine expires at the end of 2024.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, only two other EU heads of government have visited Putin – Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Both visits were widely condemned, with the EU’s executive arm publicly denouncing Orban’s self-declared peace mission and insisting he had no authority to negotiate.
While the Slovak government did not announce Fico’s trip in advance, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic hinted that the Slovak leader may travel to Moscow on Monday to discuss gas purchases. “I don’t need to tell you what your reaction will be. [this] It will attract the attention of other European leaders in the EU,” he said.
A spokesman for the European Commission could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out extending an agreement with Russian state energy company Gazprom that allows it to export natural gas to Slovakia, Hungary and other central European countries through the country’s pipeline network. Putin has also previously said he expected the contract to be terminated.
Fico, who along with Orban has been one of the EU’s most Russia-friendly leaders, has promised “very intense” negotiations behind the scenes to avoid the deadline. A senior Zelenskyy adviser told POLITICO on Saturday that Kyiv estimates Slovakia earns about $500 million a year in revenue from discounted Russian gas.
Fico repeatedly praised Russia and Putin, and the Kremlin responded with equal enthusiasm, with Peskov describing Fico’s May 2024 assassination attempt as a “great tragedy” and urging him to “get well soon.”
In February 2024, Fico said: “The West cannot admit that its strategy of using the conflict in Ukraine to destroy the Russian Federation has not succeeded.”
