Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed openness to Slovakia's proposal to host peace talks with Ukraine. Amid skepticism from central and eastern European EU states about supporting Ukraine, Slovakian Prime Minister Fico offered Slovakia as a negotiation platform,

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has proposed holding talks on a peaceful settlement of the war between Russia and Ukraine on the territory of his country, Vladimir Putin said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday criticised what he said was Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's lack of desire to end his country's dependency on Russian natural resources as a "big security issue" for Europe and Slovakia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Slovakian authorities "...would be happy to provide their own country as a platform for negotiations".

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the ... Fico becomes the third European leader to visit Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, following Austria’s Karl Nehammer and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.

Despite the relatively high casualty rate, Zelensky added that North Korea might send even more resources to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s armies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday blasted Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico over his reluctance to end his country's dependency on Russian gas, calling it a "big security issue" for Europe and saying Fico declined compensation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks in the Kremlin with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin told a press conference that Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico "said that if there are any negotiations, they would be happy to provide the country as a platform", and added that Russia was "not against it". bur/giv/rlp

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will travel to Moscow next week to hold talks on gas supplies with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Dec. 20.