gotchanewsdaily.com 
The leftist-populist Slovak politician arrived in the country for what Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov called a “working visit,” posed for pictures and shook hands with Putin.
Fico said the meeting “was a reaction to Ukrainian President V. Zelensky, who answered my personal question on Thursday that he is against any transit of gas through Ukraine to our territory.”
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago, only two other EU heads of government have visited Putin — Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Both trips were widely condemned, with the EU’s executive arm publicly rebuking Orbán’s self-declared peace mission and insisting he had no mandate to negotiate.
While Fico’s trip was not announced in advance by the Slovak government, Serbian President Aleksandr Vučić hinted the Slovak leader could travel to Moscow on Monday to discuss gas purchases. “I don’t have to tell you what kind of reaction [this] will cause among other European leaders from the EU,” he said.
In his Facebook post, Fico said that “the highest representatives” were informed of his trip in advance.
A spokesperson for the European Commission was not immediately available to comment. The EU Council confirmed that European Council President António Costa had been notified in advance, but declined to comment further on Fico’s visit.
