MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico have ended, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

"The talks are over," he said, adding that it is not planned to issue any joint statements.

Fico, who is on a working visit to Moscow, was received by Putin at the Kremlin. Their talks were held tete-a-tete. According to the Kremlin spokesman, the visit was agreed several days ago. However, Fico publicly announced his plans to visit Russia after Zelensky refused to continue gas transit via Ukraine.

This was Putin’s first personal meeting with Fico since 2016 and the third meeting with a Western European leader since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in February 2022. Prior to it, Putin held talks with visiting Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in April 2022, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 2024.