(Reuters) – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday he would attend World War Two commemorations in Moscow in May as he accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Fico, whose government has sought to improve relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine, has spoken before about wanting to attend events in Moscow next year.
On Wednesday he said he had accepted an official invitation.
“It is natural that as prime minister of the Republic of Slovakia I have an eminent interest in participating in the official celebrations of the victory over fascism, which will take place on May 9, 2025, in Moscow,” Fico said in a post on Facebook.
“I was therefore pleased to accept the official invitation of the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin to participate in these important celebrations, which I will do.”
Separately, the Slovak government office said on Wednesday Fico had spoken by telephone with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and that most of the call had focused on the war in Ukraine, which shares a border with Slovakia.
After taking office more than a year ago, Fico’s leftist-nationalist government immediately halted military supplies to Kyiv – while allowing commercial sales to continue – and it has argued that weapons deliveries are prolonging the war there.
Fico’s stance, which echoes that of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in neighbouring Hungary, contrasts with the official position of the European Union, which has mostly looked to isolate Moscow.
The Slovak leader drew criticism from Slovakia’s opposition last month when he appeared in an interview on Russia’s state-run Rossiya-1 television, in which he criticised the EU’s approach to the Ukraine war.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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