Putin in Moscow (Image: Getty)
EU leaders have blasted the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, after he met in the Kremlin on Sunday.
Fico’s meeting with the despot was to secure a new deal for cheap Russian fossil fuels, on which Slovakia heavily relies.
The central European country imports more Russian energy than any other EU state, with the exception of Hungary, since January 2023.
The current gas export deal has with Slovakia is due to expire at the end of 2024. Under the agreement, gas is piped to Slovakia via .
Robert Fico meets Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Sunday (Image: Getty)
Attacking the meeting, President Zelensky wrote on Monday: “[Fico’s] key goal is to deal with , and this is what benefits him. This is indeed a big security issue — both for Slovakia and the entire Europe. Why is this leader so dependent on Moscow? What is being paid to him, and what does he pay with?”
He added: “Moscow provides significant discounts to Fico, but Slovakia pays for them. Such discounts are not free—payments to are made through sovereignty or murky schemes.”
Following the meeting, which saw protesters descend on the Slovak government’s offices in Bratislava, Fico said Putin “confirmed ‘s readiness to continue supplying gas to Slovakia”. However, he added that the deal would depend on ‘s cooperation.
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Slovakia is highly reliant on Russian energy (Image: Getty)
The meeting has also drawn condemnation from EU leaders.
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda wrote “How cheap is your love?” on Monday. Adding: “There are those who come to with love and feel gassed to meet a war criminal. This is not Lithuania’s way. We choose energy independence and real market prices – with no political strings attached!”
Meanwhile Czechia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jan Lipavský said his government had “secured independence from Russian energy supplies so we wouldn’t have to crawl in front of a mass murderer.”