And yet, when the town’s residents cast their ballots in last month’s presidential election, they overwhelmingly voted for Călin Georgescu, the candidate who showed every sign of being the preferred choice of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said that his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday, 22 December was in response to a statement made by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about halting the transit of Russian gas.

Robert Fico said he and the Russian leader discussed "the possibilities of an early, peaceful end of the war" in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico in Moscow, marking an uncommon visit by an EU leader since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Details of their discussion remain unspecified.

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico met Russian President Vladimir Putin in a previously unannounced visit to the Kremlin on Sunday for talks, Russian state media reported, leading to dismay among opposition lawmakers in Bratislava.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin on Sunday with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022.

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)