Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico to Moscow on Saturday as the sole European Union leader to be present as Russia marked the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Putin thanked Fico for paying his respects at memorials and graves of Soviet soldiers. Fico has come in for criticism within Slovakia and in the EU for making the visit.
Putin assured Fico that Russia would do all in its power to supply Slovakia’s energy needs and welcomed the resumption of bilateral cooperation. Slovakia is heavily dependent on the supply of Russian oil and has secured an exemption from EU sanctions on Russia with the agreement of Ukraine.
There was speculation ahead of the visit that Fico could transmit a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom he had spoken twice shortly beforehand, but Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, said that Fico had not handed over any message.
Last year, Fico was the sole EU and NATO leader to be present in Moscow during the annual May 9 celebrations. He stressed in advance of the visit that he was deliberately not attending the military parade but instead laying a wreath at a memorial to the fallen.
Speaking in Stockholm on Saturday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz lashed out at Fico’s presence in Moscow.
“Robert Fico knows that we are in disagreement. I deeply regret that, and we will talk to him about this day in Moscow,” Merz told a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm.