Fico met Putin in Moscow on Dec. 22 to discuss gas and the war in Ukraine after Ukraine decided not to allow Russian gas flows through Ukraine from Jan. 1. Fico has threatened to take retaliatory measures against Kyiv as Slovakia wanted to continue receiving Russian gas through Ukraine to keep costs down and keep earning transit country revenue from onward gas shipments to Europe.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has rejected a Ukrainian invitation to visit Kyiv this week to discuss gas transit deals, Russia's TASS news agency said on Tuesday, citing a Slovak lawmaker, amid a spat over the end of Russian gas deliveries.

It’s simple to explain why this is happening,” Lendel said. “You need to consider the current political situation in Slovakia, where everything is interconnected. Fico has a parliamentary majority by just three votes.

Prime Minister Robert Fico has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy to Slovakia for talks after weeks of mutual accusations and threats. In an open letter to the Ukrainian head of state published by the government office in Bratislava on Monday,