BRATISLAVA, May 28. /TASS/. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico says he is the only European Union politician who maintains direct contact with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky.
"I’m the only one remaining in the entire EU who has direct contacts with both Putin and Zelensky," he said during a meeting with students, posted on his Facebook page (banned in Russia, owned by Meta corporation, which is recognized as extremist in Russia).
The premier condemned the continued military conflict in Ukraine.
"We view the conflict in Ukraine as a blatant violation of international law. We have said this over and over. In this regard, it is even more important to communicate with the Russian side, the way we do with the Ukrainian side," Fico said.
Politico Europe reported on May 26 that potential EU representatives in talks with Russia included European Council President Antonio Costa, former Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, and ex-European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in response to journalists’ questions that he saw former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as the best choice for potential talks between Moscow and the EU.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas would not make a good negotiator with Moscow as she would face a difficult time in that role. In his opinion, at this point, Brussels is only feigning readiness to negotiate with Russia on Ukraine, but in reality keeps spurring Kiev to continue military warfare. At the same time, in his words, the Kremlin views Europe’s understanding that sooner or later it will be necessary to negotiate with Russia as a positive development.
Peskov said that the future architecture of Europe will have to be discussed, and it is impossible to do so without Europeans. "Therefore, negotiations will be necessary one way or another," he continued, adding that although the talks with Europe have not started yet, the situation is evolving rapidly.