Putin says Slovakia offered to host Ukraine peace talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday (26 December) that Slovakia had offered to be a "platform" for possible peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, nearly three years since the launch of Moscow's offensive.

Putin told a televised press conference Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico "said that if there are any negotiations, they would be happy to provide their country as a platform".

He added that Russia was "not against it", praising Slovakia's "neutral position".

Fico, one of the few European leaders to maintain ties with the Kremlin, met with the Russian president in Moscow on 22 December.

His visit came despite Western efforts to isolate Putin and present a united front in support for Kyiv.

Slovakia, an EU and NATO member, has already halted military aid to Ukraine since autumn 2023 under Fico's government, and called for peace talks.

Fico has accused Kyiv of jeopardising his country's supply of Russian natural gas, on which it is heavily dependent.

Ukraine has said it will not renew a contract expiring at the end of this year to allow Russia gas to transit its country toward Europe, and no feasible alternative has yet been found.

Ukrainians "are already punishing Europe by ending the contract to supply our gas", Putin said, adding that no new contract could be reached "in three or four days".

But he suggested he was ready to supply gas to the EU, possibly via the Yamal-Europe pipeline that transits Poland.

'Number one task'

The prospect of peace talks to end the conflict in Ukraine that began in February 2022 has grown since the re-election of Donald Trump to the White House.

Trump has vowed to push for a quick deal to halt the fighting when he takes office in January.

That has sparked fears in Kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be pushed to make concessions to Moscow.

Putin reiterated his vow that his country would achieve "all the objectives in Ukraine".

"This is our number one task," he said, warning that Moscow was ready to again use its latest-generation Oreshnik missile, first fired in a strike last month.

Putin has repeatedly threatened to strike "decision-making centres" in Kyiv in retaliation for its use of Western-supplied long-range missiles to hit targets in Russia.

He also claimed Thursday that in 2021, US President Joe Biden offered to "push back" Ukraine's entry into NATO -- a move urgently sought by Kyiv but that Putin considers an unacceptable threat.

"In 2021, the current President Biden offered exactly that: push back Ukraine's NATO membership by 10 to 15 years, because it was not yet ready."

"I answered reasonably that 'Yes, today it is not ready. But you will prepare it for it and you will accept it.'"

But for Russia, "What is the difference -- today, tomorrow or in 10 years?"