Fico rejected criticism about his visit to Moscow on May 9.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on May 16 that his opponents have neither political nor legal grounds to criticize his visit to Moscow to participate in events marking the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. He noted that he had held many important talks during his trip to Russia.

"There is no reason, either from a political or legal point of view, to criticize me for visiting Moscow on May 9, and during this visit I held important meetings with Chinese President [Xi Jinping], General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam [Ho Chi Minh], Brazilian President [Lula da Silva] or with the President of Russia himself, Mr. [Vladimir] Putin," the politician said in an interview with the Slovak SMER party during a visit to Albania.

He added that on many issues he does not share the position of the Vice-President of the European Commission (EC) Kai Kalas. In particular, I disagree with her "iron fist" policy towards Russia.

"I have a different opinion about the conflict in Ukraine. I have a different view on "re-energy", that is, on stopping the flow of oil and nuclear materials from the Russian Federation. But I am the prime minister of an EU member state, and I really want there to be normal cooperation, despite the fact that we have different views on some fundamental issues," Fico said.

"I'm holding my fists for President Trump and President Putin"

Prime Minister of the Republic Robert Fico — on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, negotiations with the Russian Federation on gas and plans to visit Moscow

On May 14, in an interview with the Slovak edition of Plus JEDEN, he noted that all Slovak ministers would like to go with him to the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. He added that all members of the Slovak government knew about his trip and no one opposed it. Prior to that, on May 10, Fico stressed that his trip to Moscow had been extremely successful, bringing the country diplomatic recognition at a high international level.

In addition, on May 11, Fico stated that Callas was once again trying to tell the leader of a sovereign state what to do, which was unacceptable and required personal discussion. He added that this was the second time Callas had declared that European politicians should not travel to Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on May 9 that Moscow admired the independent policy of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Before the start of the negotiations, Fico greeted the Russian delegation in Russian and then shook hands with the participants.