BRATISLAVA, September 1. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said that he will travel to China to attend the 80th anniversary V-day celebrations and to meet with the Chinese and Russian presidents, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

"Tonight, I am leaving for China," he said in a video address posted on his Facebook page (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).

"I would like to confirm that during my visit to China, I will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and other officials who will be there. After returning from Beijing, on Thursday evening, I will travel to Eastern Slovakia, where I will hold a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Friday," he said, adding that he regrets that the European Union will be represented at the celebrations in Beijing only by Slovakia.

"I cannot understand this [the absence of other EU representatives] <…>. A new world order, new rules of a multipolar world, a new balance of power are being formed, which is of paramount importance for international stability. Being part of such discussions means to maintain dialogue," Fico noted.

"I venerate the memory of all those who sacrificed their lives in the fight against Nazism. That is why I paid respect in front of monuments in Moscow, Normandy, and Washington. I will do the same in Beijing this week. It was the peoples of the former Soviet Union and China who suffered the most during World War II. I reject ignoring this reality and twisting historical facts," he added.