Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that the lack of any statement following a meeting in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is driven by fears of public criticism.
“It is worth noting that after their meeting in Moscow, Fico and Putin did not issue a joint statement or respond to media questions. They simply cannot say publicly anything about what they discussed in the meeting. They are afraid of the public’s reaction,” Zelensky said on X.
Saying that Russia is providing Slovakia with “significant discounts” for energy, Zelensky argued that “such discounts are not free — payments to Russia are made through sovereignty or murky schemes.”
He added that this issue should be “a matter of concern for Slovakia’s law enforcement and special services” and that details about such financing were revealed by European leaders during a recent meeting in Brussels.
Zelensky said that European leaders observed that Fico does not want his country to participate in work on Europe’s energy independence or replace Russian gas, claiming that he rather intends to help Moscow push “American gas and energy resources of other partners away from Europe.”
“We are losing people as a result of the war that Putin started, and we believe that such assistance to Putin is immoral,” he said, adding that the Slovak premier’s refusal of compensation to ease the country’s transition from Russian energy shows that this is not a security issue for Fico himself.
“He is interested specifically in the Russian gas and the matter’s worth is 500 million US dollars per year. Other profits come from the oil pipe that runs through the Ukrainian territory and gives another 500 million US dollars per year, which helps Mr. Fico.
“That is why his key goal is to deal with Russia, and this is what benefits him. This is indeed a big security issue — both for Slovakia and the entire Europe. Why is this leader so dependent on Moscow? What is being paid to him, and what does he pay with?” he added.
Putin and Fico held talks late Sunday as a contract between Russia and Ukraine on gas transit to Europe is set to expire on Jan. 1. Ukrainian authorities have said that Kyiv has no intention of extending it.
Fico has not yet responded to Zelensky’s remarks.