Peskov added it may very well be “simply assumed” that vitality ties shall be on the agenda. The diplomatic journey got here as Slovakia and Hungary search a deal to keep away from being lower off from Russian fuel when a key transit settlement with Ukraine expires on the finish of 2024.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years in the past, solely two different EU heads of presidency have visited Putin — Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Both journeys had been extensively condemned, with the EU’s government arm publicly rebuking Orbán’s self-declared peace mission and insisting he had no mandate to barter.
While Fico’s journey was not introduced prematurely by the Slovak authorities, Serbian President Aleksandr Vučić hinted the Slovak chief might journey to Moscow on Monday to debate fuel purchases. “I haven’t got to inform you what sort of response [this] will trigger amongst different European leaders from the EU,” he mentioned.
A spokesperson for the European Commission was not instantly obtainable to remark.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dominated out extending an settlement with Russian state vitality firm Gazprom that permits it to export pure fuel through the nation’s pipeline community to Slovakia, Hungary and different Central European nations. Putin has additionally beforehand mentioned he expects the contract to come back to an finish.
Fico, who together with Orbán has constantly been some of the Russia-friendly leaders within the EU, had promised “very intense” negotiations behind the scenes to keep away from that deadline. A senior advisor to Zelenskyy instructed POLITICO on Saturday that Kyiv estimates Slovakia earns round half a billion {dollars} a 12 months from entry to discounted Russian fuel.
Fico has repeatedly praised Russia and Putin, whereas the Kremlin has been equally solicitous in response, with Peskov describing Fico’s May 2024 assassination try as a “nice tragedy” and bidding him a “speedy restoration.”
In February 2024, Fico mentioned: “The West is unable to confess that its technique of utilizing the battle in Ukraine to destroy the Russian Federation has been unsuccessful.”
