Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has offered up his country as a potential venue for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine just days after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
In a post on Facebook on Friday, Fico wrote: “If someone wants to organise peace talks in Slovakia, we will be ready and hospitable.”
That “someone” in his message likely refers to U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to negotiate a peace settlement to the war, which is quickly approaching its third anniversary, though the conflict has simmered for over a decade.
The Slovak leader shares the distinction with President Trump of having survived an assassination attempt this year, reportedly over his view that the Ukraine war should come to an end.
Fico again argued for the need for peace Friday, saying: “It seems that big people in the EU don’t mind. The main thing is that in the name of an unrealistic goal of weakening Russia, Slavs will continue to kill each other.”
The offer from Bratislava to host peace talks comes after Prime Minister Fico made a visit to Moscow to hold talks with Vladimir Putin last weekend.
Although Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán made a trip in July, it has been relatively rare for a leader of an EU nation to visit Putin in the Russian capital since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Following their meeting, Putin said that Fico had privately offered Slovakia as a venue for peace negotations. The Russian leader said that Moscow is “not opposed, if it comes to that”.
“Why not? Since Slovakia takes such a neutral position,” Putin said per DW.
However, there have been increasing tensions between Bratislava and Kyiv, which may ultimately derail dreams of a peace summit.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country would not renew the contract between Naftogaz and Gazprom for the transport of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe.
This would significantly impact Slovakia, which alongside Hungary and Italy, continues to purchase large amounts of Russian natural gas.
Fico also claimed that it if Ukraine cuts off transport of Russian gas it would result in 120 billion euros higher gas and electricity prices in 2025 and 2026 for the European Union as a whole, SME reports.
Thus, the Slovak leader suggested that his government would be willing to take “retaliatory measures against Ukraine” potentially including cutting off access to electricity.
Ukraine, which has suffered frequent attacks on critical infrastructure from the Russians, has increasingly become reliant on Slovakia and other neighbours to meet its electricity needs.
Ukraine imported 2.4 million megawatt-hours of electricity from Slovakia last year, an increase of 152 per cent over the previous year, according to Reuters.