Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico arrived in China today, where he will later participate in official Victory Day celebrations. Beijing commemorates Japan's defeat in World War II 80 years ago.

But the list of Western leaders who will attend the celebrations of the Chinese communists is short - apart from Fico, only Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučič will attend, although his country is not a member of the European Union.

The invite list includes 27 prime ministers, presidents and kings, including North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, dictators from former Soviet Caucasian countries and the head of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.

Fico will be the only EU leader at the celebrations, which was also noticed by the world's foreign media.

We are following Fico's visit to China online. The military parade in Beijing will begin on Wednesday morning at 3 a.m. our time.

The head of the Slovak government had previously met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Chinese capital.

ONLINE:

16:55 – President Pellegrini,"welcomes any diplomatic negotiations at the highest level that can contribute to the renewal of dialogue and subsequently to the end of the military conflict in Ukraine," the Office of the President said in a press release. Pellegrini also welcomes Fico's meeting with Zelensky.

16:06 – Fico commented on his Facebook about the negotiations with Putin. He claims that the Russian president revealed to him the details of the negotiations with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.

"President V. Putin informed me about the progress of the negotiations with US President D. Trump in Alaska and the prospects for ending this military conflict. I drew several conclusions and messages from the important conversation, which I intend to convey to Ukrainian President V. Zelensky on Friday," he added, referring to the planned meeting with the Ukrainian president. This will take place on the aforementioned Friday in Uzhhorod, near the Slovak border.

15:40 – Listen to today's Aktuality Nahlas podcast, which focuses on Fico's trip to China:

14:38 – Progressive Slovakia also reacted to today's meeting between Prime Minister Robert Fico and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing.

"This meeting was probably the most servile I've seen from Robert Fico, definitely the most servile he's ever had with Vladimir Putin," said PS Chairman Michal Šimečka.

According to him, the meeting only served Russian propaganda.

"Not once has he called for an end to the fighting in Ukraine, nor has he called for peace, which he has his mouth full of at home," added the PS leader.

1:30 PM – The European Commission claims that Slovak Prime Minister Fico is not representing the EU in Beijing. Its spokesperson said this at a press conference when asked what he said about Fico's meeting with Putin. He did not want to comment further, the British portal The Guardian reports.

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1:01 PM – The Slovak Prime Minister also told Putin that Slovakia considers membership in both the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance to be its living space.

"You know that we are a member state of both the European Union and NATO. We consider membership in these organizations to be our living space. I am not one of those politicians who would pull strings under (someone's) nose. I say it like it is. This is our living space. We have different opinions on many things. I must confirm that we have communicated this visit to China and our meeting with our partners in the European Union, but I have no good message to bring," said the Slovak Prime Minister.

Fico also described how he sometimes feels that"we are like a frog at the bottom of a well." "We sit there and think that the sky is only as big as we can see from the well. But, unfortunately, the world is different. Sometimes I am disappointed that in the European Union, despite the fact that I greatly respect the EU, it is our living space, we are not able to react to the movements of the world," Fico declared.

The Slovak Prime Minister also said that he is extremely interested in the standardization of relations between Slovakia and the Russian Federation. "Let's go back to what was typical for our countries, in terms of economic cooperation, let's look for intersections where our countries can cooperate very successfully," said Robert Fico.

1:00 PM – Progressive Slovakia will react to Robert Fico's meeting with Vladimir Putin at 2:30 PM at its own political headquarters.

12:27 – Robert Fico announced on Friday during a meeting with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin that he is to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Uzhhorod on Friday. Fico also wants to ask him about attacks on energy infrastructure."It is impossible for infrastructure that is vital for Slovakia to be attacked in this way," the Slovak prime minister said at the meeting with Putin.

Watch the video of the meeting between Fico and Putin:

12:20 - Putin claims that Russia has never been against Ukraine's membership in the EU, but has set a clear line on the issue of NATO, as he stated after meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Fico in Beijing. He added that Ukraine's membership in the alliance would be unacceptable for Russia.

Both leaders also made brief statements to the media.

In his speech, Putin said that Moscow had never opposed Ukraine's potential membership in the European Union, and rejected claims that Russia was planning to attack Europe.

In comments reported by Reuters, he argued that NATO is expanding eastward and wants to absorb the entire post-Soviet space, and Russia simply needs to defend its interests. He also reiterated that Ukraine's membership in NATO would be unacceptable to Russia.

12:10 - Fico has just met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. Russia values the independent foreign policy of the Slovak government, the Russian dictator said during a meeting with Fico in Beijing. According to the Kremlin chief, Slovakia's stance has a positive impact, especially on the economy, the Russian news agency TASS reports.