Zelenskyy to Slovak PM: Come to Kyiv on Friday

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's invitation to meet and discuss the gas transit issue, but with a condition – he wants Fico to visit Kyiv on Friday, 17 January.

On 13 January, Fico signed an open letter to Zelenskyy, inviting him to a meeting to resolve the gas transit issues. Fico stated he had no intention of "further escalating tensions" and wished to focus entirely on resolving the issue related to the suspension of transit.

Fico proposed holding the meeting on Slovak territory near the border with Ukraine.

"It is symbolic that you could use the direct train connection from Kyiv to Košice, which is the result of the joint efforts of our governments," Fico said.

Zelenskyy responded succinctly on X: "Ok. Come to Kyiv on Friday," he wrote.

Recently, Fico harshly criticised Ukraine as an unreliable partner, expressing frustration over what he described as Zelenskyy's habit of travelling across Europe "begging" and "blackmailing others".

On 12 January, Zelenskyy offered a sharp retort to Fico’s remarks.