Slovak PM meets Putin in unannounced Moscow visit
EPASlovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico has made a surprise visit to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin - becoming only the third Western leader to meet the Russian president since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Fico - a vocal critic of the European Union's support for Kyiv in the war - said they discussed supplies of Russian gas to Slovakia - which his country relies on.
A deal with Russian gas giant Gazprom to transit energy through Ukraine to Slovakia is due to expire at the end of this year and Ukraine has signalled its intention not to renew it.
Fico says Vladimir Putin has been "wrongly demonised" by the West.
His visit marks a departure from the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy which all member states are expected to abide by.
Under this framework, the EU has imposed multiple rounds of sanctions against Russia since Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Only Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban - another Putin ally - and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer have broken ranks with their EU counterparts to travel to Moscow.
"Top EU officials were informed about my journey and its purpose... on Friday," Fico wrote on Facebook.
He added that Putin had confirmed he would be willing to continue to supply gas to Slovakia, although the Slovak leader said this would be "practically impossible" with Ukraine refusing to renew the gas transit deal.
Fico, who survived being shot earlier this year, also said he had discussed "the possibilities of an early, peaceful end of the war" and mutual relations between Russia and Slovakia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was a "complicated situation", adding Russian gas is "necessary for the normal operation" of certain European countries' economies.
Fico's visit has gone down badly with opposition parties at home and with Slovakia's neighbouring EU and Nato ally, the Czech Republic.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said his government had secured energy independence from Russia, and he was thinking of Ukrainians who could not spend Christmas with their loved ones because of Putin.
In Bratislava, Michal Simecka of Progressive Slovakia said Fico had made his country a tool for the Russian leader's propaganda and his trip was a "disgrace for Slovakia and a betrayal of national interests".
Erik Kalinak, an MEP for Fico's Smer party, defended the prime minister's visit, saying he was merely trying to secure cheap gas imports for Slovakia.
The visit was also defended by the environment minister Tomas Taraba and the far-right Slovak National Party.
Slovakia and Hungary, which both depend on Russian gas, have raised concerns about the prospect of supplies being interrupted.
In October 2023, when Fico became prime minister again, he ended Slovakia's military aid to Ukraine.
But, he has insisted he wants to be a "good, friendly neighbour" to Kyiv.
Fico's meeting with Putin came as the leaders of Italy, Sweden, Greece and Finland met on Sunday for a security summit.
Speaking afterwards, Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Russia was a "permanent and dangerous threat" to the EU.
He also stressed the need for increased defence spending and support for Ukraine.