Slovakian Prime Minister Roberto Fico offered his country as a possible location for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, days after meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
In a Facebook post Friday, Fico said I wrote: “If someone wants to organize peace talks in Slovakia, we are ready and hospitable.”
The “someone” in his message is likely referring to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who remains committed to negotiating a peace settlement to the war, even though the conflict has smoldered for more than a decade. As promised, the war will soon reach its third anniversary.
The Slovak leader has something in common with President Trump in that he survived an assassination attempt this year over his view that the war in Ukraine should end.
Fico reiterated the need for peace on Friday, saying: “The EU bigwigs don't seem to care. The important thing is that Slavs will continue to kill each other in the name of the unrealistic goal of weakening Russia.”
Bratislava's offer to host peace talks came after Fico visited Moscow last weekend to meet with President Vladimir Putin.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited in July, but it is a relative rarity for an EU leader to visit Putin in the Russian capital since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
After the meeting, Putin said Fico had informally proposed Slovakia as a venue for peace negotiations. The Russian leader said his government “does not object to that.”
“Why not? Because Slovakia has a neutral position.” Putin said Per DW.
However, tensions are rising between Bratislava and Kiev, which could ultimately derail the dream of a peace summit.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said He said his country would not renew the contract between Naftogaz and Gazprom to transport Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe.
This will have a big impact on Slovakia, which, along with Hungary and Italy, continues to buy large quantities of Russian natural gas.
FICO also claimed that if Ukraine were to cut off Russian gas shipments, gas and electricity prices across the European Union would rise by €120 billion in 2025 and 2026. small business report.
The Slovak leader therefore indicated that he was prepared to take “retaliatory measures against Ukraine”, which could include cutting off access to electricity.
Ukraine, which has suffered frequent Russian attacks on its critical infrastructure, has become increasingly reliant on Slovakia and other neighboring countries to meet its electricity needs.
Ukraine imported 2.4 million megawatt-hours of electricity from Slovakia last year, an increase of 152% from the previous year. According to to Reuters.
