Slovak prime minister explains meeting with Putin as effort to accelerate peace in Ukraine

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that his contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin were motivated by hopes for a swift end to Russia"s war against Ukraine.

According to Report, citing Ukrainian media, he made the remarks in Uzhhorod during a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Fico said that in his meeting with Putin, he discussed "bilateral cooperation" between Russia and Slovakia.

"Again, we may have different views on this, but we believe the war will end-and very quickly-and that relations with the Russian Federation will normalize. We simply want to talk in advance about the opportunities and tasks that will arise," he explained.

The Slovak prime minister also called reports claiming that he discussed "some kind of energy blockade of Ukraine" with the Kremlin leader "absolutely untrue."

"That was absolutely not the subject of talks with Vladimir Putin. We primarily discussed bilateral cooperation between Slovakia and the Russian Federation," Fico added.

He further stated that Slovakia supports Ukraine"s EU membership and is ready to share its experience in achieving membership.

President Zelenskyy expressed hope that Slovakia would join in providing security guarantees to Ukraine.