Slovakia has confirmed it is ready to host peace talks on Ukraine, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Bratislava had offered to be a “platform” for dialogue on Ukrainian.

“We offer to host such negotiations on Slovak soil,” Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said in a Facebook post.

He stressed that the negotiations must be done “with the participation of all parties and therefore also Russia”, in contrast to the June summit in Switzerland. At the same time, he said that Bratislava informed its “Ukrainian partners” in October of its availability to host peace negotiations.

Yesterday Putin told a press conference that Slovakia had offered to be a “platform” for possible peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, almost three years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico “said that if there are negotiations, his country would be happy to provide a platform,” the Russian president said, noting that Moscow is “not opposed” to such a proposal.

“We consider the Russian president’s statement as a positive message to end this war, bloodshed and destruction as quickly as possible,” the Slovak foreign minister wrote.

At yesterday’s press conference the Russian president also stated that Moscow will achieve “all (its) goals in Ukraine”. “That’s the number one goal,” he said.

Although a member state of the European Union and NATO, Slovakia with the return of Fico to the prime ministership, after the 2023 elections, has been closer to Russia by rewarming bilateral relations, following the path of Hungary regarding the war in Ukraine. The Slovak prime minister has halted all military aid to Ukraine and accuses Kiev of jeopardizing his country’s supply of Russian gas, which it wants to continue buying.

Fico, one of the few European leaders to maintain close ties with the Kremlin even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, visited Moscow on December 22. This visit angered Kiev.