Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Moscow is open to a Slovakian proposal to host peace talks with Ukraine. The comments came when Slovakian President Robert Fico arrived in Russia for a surprise visit. The war between Ukraine and Russia is soon going to enter its third year, the bitter clash has raged on since February 2022.
Fico said that he had made the visit to Russia because of Ukraine’s unwillingness to extend Russian gas deliveries to Slovakia via Ukraine when the current contract expires at the end of the year.
Post the meeting Putin claimed on Russian television that Fico had told him during the visit that Slovakian authorities “would be happy to provide their own country as a platform for negotiations.”
“We are not opposed, if it comes to that,” he said. “Why not? Since Slovakia takes such a neutral position.”
Fico tried without success during last week’s European Union summit, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended, to convince Kyiv to reconsider its refusal to extend a gas delivery contract using pipelines in Ukrainian territory.
Fico made his unannounced visit to Moscow, saying he had informed top EU leaders a couple of days prior, after the meeting in Brussels. He called the meeting “a response” to Ukraine President Zelenskyy’s unchanged stance, saying it threatened Slovakian energy supply calling it “unacceptable.”
He also elaborated that in the “long conversation” with Putin he had discussed issues including “the prospects of an early peaceful end to the war” in Ukraine. He made no mention at the time of offering to host or facilitate talks.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy accused Fico of being preoccupied with economic issues while Ukrainians were in combat. He also alleged that Fico’s motives might not be in Slovakia’s interests.
“We are fighting for our lives, Fico is fighting for money, and it’s unlikely that money is for Slovakia. Shadow agreements with Putin are either a trade of state interests or working for personal gain,” Zelenskyy said.
Russian Response
Putin said during Thursday’s televised address that there was no time left this year to extend the agreement that brings gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria via Ukraine, claiming that Kyiv was punishing Europe with the move.
“There is no contract and it is impossible to conclude it in 3-4 days,” he said.
Russian gas deliveries to Europe have been slashed to less than 10% of their peak levels prior to the invasion of Ukraine, with the EU’s stated aim as a bloc being to eventually import none at all.
Still, some countries are more dependent on its delivery than others, with landlocked Slovakia, also a NATO member, among the most exposed.
This is not the first time Russia has mooted peace talks. Putin has repeatedly said Russia is open to talks to end the conflict with Kyiv under the right conditions, but also that it would achieve its goals in Ukraine.
He has also continued both ground attacks at front lines in areas like Donetsk and aerial bombardments of Ukraine, including major strikes on energy infrastructure on the morning of December 25.
In Thursday’s address, Putin also threatened another use of the intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as Oreshnik, as he did in his end-of-year media briefing last week.
“We do not exclude the possibility of using it both today and tomorrow, if necessary,” Putin said, while also asserting that Russia was in no hurry to do so.
