Fico is the third EU leader, after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, to meet with Putin since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. #Euro

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Moscow on Sunday, marking a rare visit by an EU leader to the Kremlin

Slovakia may consider reciprocal measures against Ukraine if it doesn’t allow the transit of gas from Russia to Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin on Sunday with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico (shown here in Brussels in February 2024), in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

The contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine is a little over a week away from expiration. However, two EU countries - Slovakia and Hungary - do not want to lose critical supplies and are counting the losses if the route is lost.

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Slovakia is dependent on gas passing through its neighbour Ukraine, and it has ramped up efforts to maintain those flows from 2025 while criticising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for refusing to extend the contract expiring at the end of the year.