Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is ready to take up Slovakia’s offer to host peace talks with Ukraine with the aim of ending the war in its current form that began with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin hosted Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico for unannounced talks on Sunday, with Fico saying he made the visit because of Ukraine’s reluctance to extend Russian gas deliveries to Slovakia through Ukraine when the current contract is in effect. Ending at the end.
Putin said on Russian television on Thursday that Fico had told him during the visit that Slovakian officials would be “happy to make their country available as a platform for dialogue.”
“If it comes to that, we are not opposed,” he said. “Why not? Since Slovakia has such a neutral position.”
The Ukrainian government did not immediately respond.
FICO’s sudden visit to Moscow amid Ukraine gas dispute
During last week’s EU summit, which was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Fico tried unsuccessfully to persuade Kiev to reconsider its refusal to extend gas delivery contracts using pipelines on Ukrainian territory.
On Sunday, he made his unannounced visit to Moscow, and said he had informed top EU leaders days earlier after a meeting in Brussels.
He called the meeting a “reaction” to Zelensky and his unchanged stance and said it threatened Slovakia’s energy supply and described it as “unacceptable.”
He said that in “long conversations” with Putin they discussed a range of issues, including “prospects for an early peaceful end to the war” in Ukraine. He made no mention at the time of offering to host or facilitate the talks.
Meanwhile, Zelensky said the comparatively pro-Moscow Fico, who cut Slovakia’s military aid to Ukraine shortly after coming to power last year, was preoccupied with economic issues while Ukrainians were at war. He also alleged that Fico’s intentions may not be in Slovakia’s best interests.
“We are fighting for our lives, FICO is fighting for money, and it is unlikely that the money is for Slovakia,” Zelensky said. Shadow agreements with Putin are either a tradeoff of state interests or personal gain. Working for.”
Slovakia’s opposition leaders were also highly critical of Fico’s visit; A large crowd protested against it in Bratislava the next day.
Putin: It’s too late to renew gas delivery contracts
Putin said during a televised address on Thursday that there was no time left this year to extend the agreement that brings gas through Ukraine to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria, claiming Kiev was punishing Europe with the move. Used to be.
“There is no contract and it is impossible to complete it in 3-4 days,” he said.
Deliveries of Russian gas to Europe have been reduced to less than 10% of their peak levels before the invasion of Ukraine, with the EU as a bloc’s stated aim to eventually import nothing at all.
Still, some countries are more dependent on its deliveries than others, with landlocked Slovakia, also a NATO member, among the most exposed.
This is not the first time that Russia has proposed peace talks
Putin has repeatedly said that Russia is ready to negotiate an end to the conflict with Kiev under the right conditions, but also that it will achieve its goals in Ukraine.
They have continued both ground attacks on forward positions in areas such as Donetsk and aerial bombardment of Ukraine, including major attacks on energy infrastructure on the morning of 25 December.
In Thursday’s address, Putin also threatened another use of the intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile called Orashnik, as he did at his year-end media briefing last week.
“If the need arises, we do not rule out the possibility of using it both today and tomorrow,” Putin said, adding that Russia is in no hurry to do so.
msh/rmt (AFP, Reuters)
