Robert Fico held talks in Beijing on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who briefed him on the Alaska talks with US President Donald Trump and the prospects for ending the war. The Slovak prime minister"drew several conclusions and messages" from the conversation, which he intended to convey to Zelensky today.

However, this was not the only thing that made the meeting interesting, but also the fact that the Slovak Prime Minister strongly opposes the attacks on the Friendship Oil Pipeline.

We are responding very strongly to the attacks on the oil pipeline

– Fico said in Beijing on Tuesday. The Slovak Prime Minister had previously said that he would raise this issue “very seriously” because “it is not possible to attack infrastructure that is vital for Slovakia in this way”. It is worth remembering that Ukraine has repeatedly attacked the Friendship oil pipeline in recent weeks, which is also critical for Slovakia’s energy supply. According to the Slovak government, these attacks directly violate their country’s national interests. As it later turned out, Fico did indeed mention the attacks on the Friendship oil pipeline to Zelensky.

Just like in the movies, they took the journalists to the secret location

According to our original plan, based on the reports of the Slovak and Ukrainian newspapers present at the meeting, we would have broadcast the press conference of Robert Fico and Volodymyr Zelensky, but such strict security regulations were imposed that this became impossible. According to the original information, the joint press conference would have been held at the Uzhhorod railway station, but at a secret location, where the press representatives were transported by buses.

sme.sk journalists were there with the Slovak Prime Minister and reported in detail how the journalists got to the secret location. Before boarding the bus that would take the journalists to the press conference, they were subjected to strict security checks.

They searched their equipment and luggage, everything had to be opened and shown. During the check, the journalists were informed that they had to leave their phones on the bus and could not take them with them to the press conference.

They were also told that the press conference would not be broadcast live online. When they complained that their phones were being used as dictaphones, the soldiers told them they would look into the matter and later allowed them to use them in airplane mode. The journalists did not even find out during the bus ride where they were being taken. The meeting eventually took place at Derevnivskei Turf, where Fico had met with then-Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal last October.

At the press conference, the Ukrainian president first stepped up to the microphone and emphasized that he was happy about such bilateral talks, and then revealed that he had informed Fico about the content of his discussions with Donald Trump and European leaders.

Russian aggression and efforts to destabilize life are also affecting other countries. It does not end in Ukraine. We must do everything to ensure that the dark pages of the past of Ukraine and Slovakia are not repeated

– the Ukrainian president stated, according to the Sme summary.

Ukraine ensures Slovakia's energy supply, but not from Russia

He highlighted that the Slovak Prime Minister had also informed him about a meeting with Vladimir Putin in China. In this regard, he said, “it is important that Putin does not view such a visit as an indulgence, that he knows that he has no alternatives.” He expressed his gratitude to Slovakia for being “open to dialogue,” and then turned to one of the most important topics, energy.

"We are ready to ensure the supply of oil and gas to Slovakia through Ukraine, but not with Russian oil and Russian gas. We are ready for joint energy projects," the Ukrainian president quoted, then recalled Donald Trump's admonitions that European countries should stop buying Russian gas and oil.

Russian oil and Russian gas have no future. And if America remains so resolute and feels the situation changing, then this will be a factor that Russia will no longer fight for

– Zelensky was quoted as saying by Új Szó. The Ukrainian president emphasized that Ukraine enjoys the support of the United States. The Slovak prime minister did not respond to Trump's words, but he did reveal details about his talks with Putin.

Big announcement from Robert Fico

Fico denied that the Russian president had discussed the possibility of Slovakia blocking Ukraine's energy supply, or that there had been a request from Moscow to place the country under an energy blockade.

We didn't talk about anything like that with Putin

he stated firmly.

In his speech, Robert Fico recalled that this was the first time he had spoken face-to-face with the Ukrainian president. He emphasized that “Slovak-Ukrainian relations are a good example of how different political views can sometimes obscure the essence of cooperation.” He stated that he “wants to cultivate good-neighborly relations with Ukraine, but does not want to deviate from the path of Slovak sovereignty policy oriented towards all four cardinal points.”

The Slovak Prime Minister, true to his previous promise, spoke about the Ukrainian attacks on the Friendship oil pipeline.

Military attacks against legitimate targets also harm Slovakia. We must also be mindful of the interests of other countries that are part of the international energy network

– Fico emphasized, noting that Slovakia does not want to be a pawn in a game in the energy field.

He emphasized that all energy decisions in the future will be made in a way that is beneficial to Slovak sovereign politics, and then made a major announcement:  A joint Slovak-Ukrainian government meeting is planned for October 20th, and their teams are already working on it.

Arrived from China, immediately headed to Ukraine

Fico previously emphasized that Bratislava wants to continue cooperating with Moscow in several areas, such as energy and oil and gas supplies. The delegation at Friday's meeting also included Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Denisa Saková, as well as Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár, who had previously expected a constructive dialogue from the meeting, also emphasizing that he believed good relations were important for Slovakia, given that Ukraine is a neighboring country.

The Slovak government did not disclose in advance exactly when the talks between Volodymyr Zelensky and Robert Fico in Uzhhorod began.

– the government office informed Új Szó before the meeting. However, they revealed that Fico's plane landed in Košice in the morning, and then immediately set off for Ukraine, near the border with Slovakia.