Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hosted Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency. According to Peskov, the talks were expected to focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries.
Russian natural gas still flows to some European countries, including Slovakia, through Ukraine under a five-year agreement signed before the war that is due to expire at the end of this year. At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told EU leaders that Kyiv has no intention of renewing the deal, something Fico insisted will harm his country's interests.
Slovakia last month signed a short-term pilot contract to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan, as it prepares for a possible halt to Russian supplies through Ukraine. Earlier this year, it struck a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through a pipeline from Poland.
The country can also receive gas through Austrian, Hungarian and Czech networks, enabling imports from Germany among other potential suppliers.
Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s PM Viktor Orbán visited Russia in July, and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met with the Russian leader just weeks into the full-scale war. Both trips drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.
Orbán, widely seen as having the warmest relations with Putin among EU leaders, has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to assist Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. He has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine but without outlining what that might mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security.
Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, hit out at EU sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.
Fico has also been a rare senior EU politician to appear on Russian state TV following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with the Rossiya-1 channel in October, he contended the West has “prolonged the war” by supporting Ukraine, adding that sanctions against Russia were ineffective. He declared that he was ready to negotiate with Putin.
He also vowed to attend a military parade in Moscow next May that will mark the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II. The Kremlin has used the annual “Victory Day” celebrations to tout its battlefield prowess, and Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine as “heroes” at this year’s event.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico shake hands during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool, File)
Liverpool heads into Christmas with a four-point lead, a game in hand and as the overwhelming title favorite in the Premier League on the back of a wild 6-3 win at Tottenham on Sunday.
As for Manchester United and its new manager Ruben Amorim, they stumble into the festive period in 13th place — as low as they’ve been at Christmas since the 1989-90 season — and with a familiar sinking feeling.
United lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth for the second straight season, the latest statistic to show just how far this English giant has fallen and the job Amorim has to turn around its fortunes.
Worse for United, it seems like great rival Liverpool cannot be stopped.
Make that 21 games in all competitions without defeat after the Reds' biggest league win of the season, with Mohamed Salah netting two of the goals to move above Manchester City's Erling Haaland to the top of the scoring charts.
Liverpool has 39 points from 16 games and stretched its lead over second-place Chelsea, which could only draw 0-0 at Everton, to end a five-match winning streak in the league.
Salah now has 15 goals in the Premier League to break a tie with Haaland — and will leave London thinking he should have had more.
In an end-to-end contest resembling a basketball match, Liverpool scored more than five goals for the first time this season, with Luis Diaz (two), Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai also netting.
“You can see quality players with top discipline,” Tottenham captain Son Heung-min said. “There’s a reason they are top. If you give them a mistake, they punish you.”
Tottenham's injury-hit defense was open at the back but its attack caused Liverpool's problems throughout, with James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke all finding the net.
Spurs are another big team in the bottom half, having slipped to 11th place.
The optimism that might have been generated by a last-gasp 2-1 derby win at Manchester City last weekend has disappeared for United, which lost 4-3 at Tottenham in the English League Cup quarterfinals on Thursday before being handed a defeat to Bournemouth by the same score as 12 months ago.
“We were a bit nervous, I felt it in the stadium,” said Amorim, who has won four and lost four in all competitions since starting his United tenure with a draw at Ipswich on Nov. 24.
Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert — from the penalty spot — and Antoine Semenyo scored for Bournemouth, which climbed to fifth place in the standings and has now beaten Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham and United this season. Indeed, City has dropped to seventh place, an unthinkable unravelling for the winner of the last four Premier League titles.
United left out Marcus Rashford for the third straight match.
After all the money spent on players — $1.3 billion and counting — and the huge turnover of managers, Chelsea's American ownership could have seen the club atop the Premier League with a win at Everton — for a couple of hours at least.
However, a 0-0 draw ended Chelsea's eight-match winning run in all competitions and gave Liverpool the opportunity to push four points clear.
Nicolas Jackson headed against the post in the first half for Chelsea, while Everton had the clearer chances in the second half.
Everton also held Arsenal 0-0 last weekend.
“Sometimes you have to play a different game and we are learning to play a different game,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said. “They (Everton) are one of the best teams in Europe in terms of clean sheets.”
Vitor Pereira got off to a great start as Wolverhampton manager, with his new team beating Leicester 3-0 in his first match in charge.
Pereira took charge on Thursday as the replacement for Gary O'Neil and immediately ended Wolves' four-game losing run as Gonçalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes and Matheus Cunha scored first-half goals at King Power Stadium.
Wolves stayed in the relegation zone but moved two points behind Leicester, which is a place above the bottom three, and Pereira said: “I believe that we will stay in the Premier League and we will play at a better level than we saw today."
It handed Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy a second straight big loss early in his reign, after a 4-0 defeat at Newcastle last weekend.
Another recently hired Premier League manager, Ivan Juric, began life at Southampton with a 0-0 draw at Fulham.
Juric wasn't in charge of the team because he doesn't have a work permit. He was sitting in the stands for the match instead.
Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Liverpool players get together just before the start of the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou reacts after Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scored his side's fifth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Liverpool's Luis Diaz, second right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's sixth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Goncalo Guedes celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game with teammates, during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers at King Power Stadium, in Leicester, England, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
Everton's Ashley Young, left, and Chelsea's Axel Disasi battle for the ball during the English Premier League match soccer match between Everton and Chelsea, at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Sunday Dec. 22, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson (right) battle for the ball during the English Premier League match soccer match between Everton and Chelsea, at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Sunday Dec. 22, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Manchester United's head coach Ruben Amorim claps his hands before the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Bournemouth at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester United's Tyrell Malacia argues with line referee Akil Howson after a foul on Bournemouth's Adam Smith during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Bournemouth at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Bournemouth's Dean Huijsen celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Bournemouth at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho is dejected after missing an opportunity to score during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Bournemouth at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
