In the final working week before Christmas, EU leaders gathered for a meeting that might prove historic – but not for the reasons they hoped.

EU chiefs have slammed Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico following his Kremlin meeting with Vladimir Putin on Sunday. Fico secured a new deal for cheap Russian fossil fuels, essential to Slovakia as it's among the EU nations most dependent on Russian ...

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening.

Despite the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 being denounced widely by both the EU and NATO, Prime Minister Fico sensationally claimed this week that Putin had been "wrongly demonised" by the West.

And yet, when the town’s residents cast their ballots in last month’s presidential election, they overwhelmingly voted for Călin Georgescu, the candidate who showed every sign of being the preferred choice of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks in the Kremlin with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin on Sunday with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin on Sunday with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico (shown here in Brussels in February 2024), in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hosted Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February ...

Russia's Putin Holds Talks With Slovakian PM Fico, in a Rare Visit to Moscow by an EU Leader Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hosted Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare ...

Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the RUSI think tank and the author of the book Russia in Africa, described the collapse of Assad’s regime as a “geopolitical and status defeat for Russia” that not only creates logistical problems but undermines its reputation with pro-Kremlin dictators in Africa.