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Attending the meeting on the Russian side were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev, and Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, Friends,

Allow me to once again welcome you to Moscow.

We definitely value your decision to attend the celebrations marking the 80^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. We've just exchanged a few words with you – I am aware of the difficulties that arose with your flight to Moscow: they tried to put up logistics obstacles for you. But nevertheless, you are here, and I think that those who have been trying to restrain you in implementing your plans have once again realised that they should not be doing this: you are achieving your goal anyway.

It is symbolic that ten years ago, in 2015, you also took part in the celebrations marking the 70^th anniversary of Victory in WWII. We are grateful to the leadership and citizens of Slovakia for their attentive and careful attitude to the monuments and graves of Soviet soldiers who fell in battles against Nazi invaders on the Slovak soil.

I am also aware of your proposal to erect a monument to Marshal Konev in Slovakia. This is a very noble undertaking, we are grateful to you for this, and if something is needed from us, we are ready to do everything.

Reconstruction of the Central Military Memorial Cemetery of the Red Army in Michalovce is expected to be completed this year. It was initiated by the Russian Embassy in Bratislava and is scheduled to be completed by November. This is the largest burial site in Slovakia. We are grateful for your personal support of this project and the decision to co-finance the reconstruction.

We fully share your position on the importance of working with young people in the military memorial sphere. In August 2024, at your invitation, celebrations marking the 80^th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising of 1944 were attended by a delegation of young people from Russia, who are descendants of the participants of this uprising. In March – April of this year, a group of Russian students took part in celebrations marking the 80^th anniversary of liberation of Bratislava.

Such joint actions are an important confirmation of the common perception of the WWII history by our peoples.

The long-standing ties between Russia and Slovakia have been actually frozen in recent years through the efforts of the former Slovak authorities, who clearly followed the collective line of the West. During our meeting in December 2024, we agreed that the government, under your leadership, would make efforts to restore bilateral interaction. In essence, this is your position.

We naturally support this and, from our side, we will do everything that depends on us in this area. We have always maintained relations with Slovakia as a friendly state, and we have acted on the principles of respect and consideration for each other's interests.

This is what I would like to say at the beginning.

I would be delighted to give you the floor. Please.

Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico (retranslated): Mr President,

Let me express my gratitude to you and your staff for the hospitality and care for us during our visit to Moscow, to the Russian Federation.

Mr President, I want to underscore very clearly that the Slovak National Uprising that took place in 1944 gave certain orders, and these orders mean that our country must honour all fighters against Nazism and all those who liberated Czechoslovakia and the entire Europe, who fought against Hitler's Germany.

This is why I had no dilemma after I received the invitation to the attend the celebrations marking the 80^th anniversary of Victory. This is an honour for me and I accepted it with pleasure.

We shall treat all technical problems that we faced and that were caused by our colleagues from the European Union as a children’s joke. We had several options to get here, even by car via Belarus. Another alternative was via Kaliningrad. There were many possibilities. We had a clear goal: at 9 o'clock in the morning, we had to be in Moscow. And we succeeded. So, I am very glad.

Mr President, I confirm that the Slovak Government is interested in cooperating with you in preserving all monuments and cemeteries that are connected with WWII and the liberation. The idea to erect a monument to Marshal Konev is related to the Carpatho-Dukla Operation, and we celebrated the anniversary of this operation on October 6, 2024.

As for the town of Michalovce, we have already opened the largest military cemetery; 17,000 Red Army servicemen who liberated Slovakia and died mainly during the operation in eastern Slovakia are buried there. I am very happy that together with your Ambassador, Mr Igor Bratchikov, we were together in Michalovce and, with many people in attendance, we opened this place to the public. We have several such projects. We can make a list together, and I guarantee that we will give much attention to this topic.

Mr President, I won’t say anything strange if I say that there is a great desire to build a new iron curtain in various forms. For example, as I felt yesterday when it was difficult to arrive unlike last time when we could arrive here from Bratislava in two hours.

There are also sanctions, which do not work and cause damage to the European Union itself. Now the EU has come up with a proposal called Repowering. This is a halt to the supply of all kinds of energy resources. But let us talk constructively. You will understand very well what I am going to tell you now. If someone thinks that it is possible to buy fuel from Westinghouse and use it at our nuclear power plants, it is impossible.

A halt of gas supplies will cause instability. Our petrochemical plants were set up to use Russian oil for oil refining, and the shutdown may cause technological problems. I hope that our EU partners will learn about this when legal acts are adopted in connection with Repowering. If it is necessary for all 27 countries to agree, we will use our veto power to ban imports of all types of energy resources. If it is decided not to vote unanimously, but by majority, then major countries will take their decision.

Yesterday we celebrated May 8 with dignity. The Government of the Slovak Republic, jointly with the Defence Ministry, arranged the celebrations, which were attended by 35,000 people. These were nation-wide celebrations. They confirm that our people have common sense. And yesterday, at the meeting, I said frankly and publicly: I do not support the idea of a new iron curtain. And we will do everything to make sure that we shake hands with each other through this curtain. Some 65,000 Red Army soldiers died during the liberation of Czechoslovakia, so it was a moral obligation for me to attend the event. We also visited Poklonnaya Gora, we visited the museum, a very interesting interactive museum.

Mr President,

We are now a member state of the European Union and NATO. We want to be solid partners in these institutions. Let's look for ways to develop our relations. I would like to reiterate that we, in Slovakia, are interested in normal relations with the Russian Federation. We have opportunities for cooperation between the parliaments, that is, the National Council of the Slovak Republic. Members of the Slovak Parliament took part in an international conference in Volgograd, and we can continue to cooperate further.

As for practical cooperation in energy, nuclear power plants, the Slovak Government believes that it is practically impossible to end cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. And we will do everything to improve our relations, because they are really at a catastrophic level.

Today, I received a statement from Ms Kallas that I am on the wrong side of history. I don't quite understand this remark of the EU High Representative. I believe we must communicate.

I would like to thank you, Mr President, for the chance to hold bilateral negotiations apart from my protocol duties. I met with the President of Brazil, the President of China, and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee. These are big powers, and I will continue these dialogues. I am a Prime Minister who is interested in a normal discussion.

You know our opinion about the war. And I would like to reiterate that there is no military solution here. Various initiatives are emerging from China and Brazil. We also work within the framework of the Friends for Peace group at the United Nations. It would be good to get the most up-to-date information regarding the development of the conflict. We are very glad that negotiations are underway and that a solution is being sought, because this is exactly what we have wanted from the very beginning of the conflict.

Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today. And as Prime Minister, I can assure you that I am interested in pragmatic relations with the Russian Federation.

Thank you.

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