Prime Minister Robert Fico will go to Kyiv for the first time since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. He did not specify when exactly he will do so. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that he invited Fico to the Ukrainian capital.
02.05.2026 13:17 , updated: 13:59
Photo: Office of the Government of the SR
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Robert Fico during a welcome before their meeting in the Ukrainian city of Uzhgorod on September 5, 2025.
He stated on the social network that “he spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Despite the fact that we have different opinions on some topics, we share a common interest in good and friendly relations between the Slovak Republic and Ukraine,” he wrote.
Fico confirmed support for Ukraine’s entry into the EU, “because Slovakia wants Ukraine as our neighbor to be a stable and democratic country.”
Zelenskyy responded to Fico’s words on the X network by saying that “we need strong relations between our countries and we are both interested in it. It was important to hear that Slovakia supports Ukraine’s membership in the European Union and is ready to share its experience with accession”.
“We agreed to meet briefly on Monday in Yerevan at the EPC summit, and to continue the format of joint governments, while visiting each other in the capitals of our countries,” Fico said unexpectedly.
“I invited the prime minister to visit Kyiv and thanked him for the invitation to Bratislava. We also discussed the possibility of a personal meeting in the near future. Our teams will work on planning it,” Zelenskyy said on Saturday.
“I also emphasized that no peace agreement in the military conflict with the Russian Federation is possible without the consent of the Ukrainian side,” concluded Prime Minister Fico.
So far, Fico has refused a trip to Kyiv, his cabinet negotiated with the Ukrainian party in Michalovci or Uzhgorod.
In January 2024, Fico again questioned that there would be a war in Kyiv; according to him, normal life prevails in the Ukrainian metropolis. Fico announced this during the exit meeting of his government in Kamenice nad Cirochou, when he answered the question why his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal will not take place in Kyiv, but in Uzhhorod near the border.
Fico claimed that he responded to the demands of the Ukrainian side and that it was practical for him. At the press conference, he faced the question of whether he wanted to go and see the war in Kyiv in person. “And you really think that there is a war in Kyiv? You’re not serious, I hope…” he said. “There is absolutely normal life there,” added Fico, according to whom the conflict in Ukraine has a local character.
“Fico distinguished himself with a cynical statement,” wrote the Unian agency, which shortly before published a comment by an expert urging Kyiv not to argue with the Slovak prime minister, regardless of his scandalous statements. The daily Ukrainska Pravda also commented on Fico’s statements on the eve of the scheduled meeting with the Ukrainian Prime Minister. “The words of the prime minister of Slovakia about ‘peaceful Kyiv’ were heard on the same day when Russia launched another missile attack on Ukraine. Apartments and cars were damaged in the capital, and 22 people were injured, one of them is in the intensive care unit,” the newspaper wrote.
Zelenskyy spoke with Fico by phone for the last time on February 27, when he also invited him to visit Ukraine to discuss all current issues. The call followed the Slovak Prime Minister’s threat from February 21st to stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine from March 2nd if Kyiv does not resume supplies of Russian oil to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline.
Zelenský’s office offered Fico two dates – March 6 or 9. In the end, the meeting did not take place.
