Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said he wants standard relations with Russia following his meeting with Russian Vladimir Putin in Beijing, where China is hosting commemorations of the 80^th anniversary of the end of WWII in Asia.

“I want to say openly that we are extremely interested in the standardisation of relations between the Slovak Republic and the Russian Federation,” Fico was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“Let’s go back to what used to be typical for countries when it comes to economic cooperation,” and thanked Putin “for the safe and regular gas supplies that we receive through TurkStream,” alluding to the recent halts in oil imports via the Russian Druzhba pipeline for which Fico’s left-right government blamed Ukraine.

Ukraine’s NATO membership is unacceptable for Russia as this runs counter to Russia’s security interests, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Fico at their meeting. In turn, Fico compared the European Union to a "toad on the bottom of a well," which sees nothing around it.

Fico was the only EU leader to make the trip to China to participate in the ceremonies, although EU candidate Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was also there. Fico leads a Nato member state, and has stepped up his pro-Russian, anti-sanctions stance amid his faltering popularity at home.

Under Fico's watch, Slovakia turned from one of Nato's staunchest backers of Ukraine in its defence against Russian invasion to delaying Western sanctions on Russia, arguing they harm Slovakia’s economy more than Russia’s. 

Slovakia nearly eradicated Russian gas imports during the winter of 2022-2023, but imports spiked following the return of Fico's left-right government in the autumn of 2023.

Fico also said he hopes US Westinghouse will cooperate with Russia on further development of nuclear sources in Slovakia, stating: "I would like to see Russian-American cooperation in this field," Slovak state broadcaster STVR noted.

As reported by bne IntelliNews, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has come of age and Chinese President Xi Jinping has used the meeting to rally Global South countries to his growing anti-West alliance. At the SCO summit, Xi projected Chinese geopolitical and military power as tensions with the West continue to rise, positioning China as an equitable and reliable partner in an increasingly multipolar world.

Fico’s meeting with Putin caused an outcry among the Slovak opposition, and Fico also claimed he spent nearly an hour with Putin in talks behind closed doors. Fico caused a similar rumpus when he travelled to Moscow to meet with Putin last December, and in October, he also made an unprecedented appearance on a Russian propaganda channel, Rossiya 1.

Fico wrote on his Facebook social media profile that “from the important discussion I made several conclusions and messages which I want to share on Friday [September 5] deliver to Ukrainian President V. Zelenskyy.” As bne IntelliNews reported earlier this week, Fico is to meet Zelenskyy in eastern Slovakia near the border with Ukraine shortly after his return from Beijing.

Fico has made energy a central focus of his Smer party’s further pro-Kremlin turn. In the summer, Fico also delayed the EU's eighteenth sanctions package against Russia, and repeatedly slammed the EU’s plans to phase out Russian energy imports by 2027.

Slovakia has a valid contract with Gazprom until 2034, under which the Russian side is committed to sending its gas to Slovakia for free, covering gas transit fees all the way to the Slovak border.

Fico claimed Slovakia would face a lawsuit “for €16bn” if it reneged on the valid Gazprom contract and also argued that it would incur “more expensive transit fees.”

Previously, Fico had also argued that Slovak gas transmission utility Eustream would lose income from gas transit fees. Czech energy and media oligarch Daniel Křetínský’s EPH has a 49% stake and managerial control in Eustream, while Slovakia retains 51%.

This year, Slovakia has imported 1.7bcm of gas via Hungary, Reuters noted, citing data from Eustream.

Local analysts argue that it is the lobbying influence of EPH over Fico’s cabinet, in combination with Fico’s Smer party’s reliance on the anti-establishment electorate, which in Slovakia is traditionally anti-western and has a strong pro-Russian element, that pushes Fico to keep the Smer electorate mobilised by claiming that Slovakia would find itself in an energy crisis if the EU phase-out plan is implemented.