Ukraine war: Putin can imagine Slovakia as a mediator

Russian President Vladimir Putin can imagine Slovakia as a meeting point for possible talks about an end to the Ukraine war.

The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico offered his country as a platform during his visit to Moscow last Sunday, the Kremlin chief told journalists.

“If it comes to that, why not? Because from our point of view, Slovakia occupies a neutral position,” said Putin at the Igora sports center north of St. Petersburg. The Russian President said he considered the solution to be “acceptable”: “We are not against it,” he emphasized.

In Slovakia, Putin’s comments sparked strong criticism from the opposition. Michal Simecka, the head of the largest opposition party, wrote on Facebook: “It is absurd that someone other than our own government informs us about the Slovak Republic’s foreign policy. (…) Now even the Russian President and criminal Vladimir Putin. “

To Fico’s alleged offer to Putin to organize Russian-Ukrainian talks in Bratislava, Simecka made a counter-proposal: “If Fico wants peace, he should first call on Putin to stop his attacks and stop murdering innocent people in Ukraine. If the Russian “If the armed forces stop their attacks, they can negotiate directly on Fico’s terrace,” he added sarcastically.

Meanwhile, the Slovak Foreign Ministry in Bratislava confirmed on Thursday evening in a broadcast available to dpa the offer to be available as a location for part of possible Russian-Ukrainian peace talks. The Ukrainian government was already told that it was prepared to do this in October during a joint Slovakian-Ukrainian government meeting. The Slovak government is consistently committed to a non-military solution and has repeatedly publicly declared its willingness to actively contribute to it.

Fico is one of the few leaders in Europe who remains close to the Kremlin. Shortly before Christmas he paid Putin a visit in Russia. The other Western countries, however, have rallied behind Ukraine.

With his visit to Putin, Fico attracted criticism from Ukraine, but also from the EU. The visit was probably also about gas deliveries. Ukraine will stop passing through Russian gas at the beginning of the year, which is causing problems for Slovakia.

Putin again accused Ukraine of cutting off European customers from Russian gas. But it would not be possible to conclude a new agreement with other transporters in “three or four days” before the transit contract expires, the president said.

Ukraine loses the transit fees that were still paid despite the war. But she wants to deprive Russia of the opportunity to earn money for its war effort by exporting gas to Europe.

Fico, who has been steering the fortunes of EU and NATO member Slovakia again since autumn 2023, rejects military aid for Ukraine and advocates peace talks. He also accuses Kiev of endangering his country’s supply of Russian gas, on which it is heavily dependent.