Zelensky invites Slovak leader to Kyiv ahead of Moscow trip
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 2 and invited him to Kyiv a week ahead of Fico’s planned trip to Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day parade.
The relationship between Zelensky and Fico has mostly been marked by periods of tension.
Relations severely deteriorated earlier this year during a dispute over the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian crude to Slovakia and Hungary.
Fico also became the first EU leader to visit Moscow during the full-scale war for its World War 2 Victory Day celebrations last year. Despite criticism from fellow European leaders, Fico plans to visit again next week.
But Zelensky said the two countries need to have "strong relations" and that the two leaders should meet in person soon. Zelensky reciprocated Fico’s invitation to Bratislava and thanked him for supporting Ukraine’s EU accession bid.
"It was important to hear that Slovakia supports Ukraine's membership in the European Union and is ready to share its experience of joining the EU," Zelensky wrote on social media
Zelensky previously invited Fico to Kyiv early last year, but the Slovak leader declined the invitation. He has not visited Kyiv since taking office in 2023, although he met Zelensky in Uzhhorod, Zakarpattia Oblast, in September 2025.
Over the winter and early spring, Fico and his close ally, outgoing Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, threatened to cut emergency electricity exports to Ukraine. They accused Kyiv of deliberately stopping transit through the Druzhba pipeline, which was shut down in late January after sustaining damage in a Russian attack.
Slovakia also blocked the European Union’s 20th package of sanctions against Russia, although Bratislava lifted its veto on April 22 after the Druzhba pipeline resumed operations.
