Direct dialogue with Moscow is crucial, Slovak PM Robert Fico has said, urging Brussels to take its cue from Washington

The summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in Alaska has challenged the West's entrenched confrontational narratives regarding relations with Moscow, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has claimed.

In defiance of the EU's prevailing approach, Fico halted Bratislava's military aide to Kiev in October 2023, and has been a vocal critic of the bloc's sanctions against Moscow, as well as suggestions that Ukraine join NATO.

In a video posted on Facebook on Saturday, Fico stated that the sheer fact that Putin and Trump had met in person was the "most important thing" about the summit in Anchorage on Friday.

"Politicians need to meet and show mutual respect, to talk and try to understand each other," the Slovak prime minister argued.

He further claimed that the high-profile meeting had "rejected the black-and-white view of the military conflict in Ukraine" and essentially "erased a single mandatory opinion on the war."

"We must speak equally about security guarantees both for Ukraine and for the Russian Federation," taking into account the "historical roots" of the conflict, Fico emphasized.

"The next few days will show whether the major players in the EU will support this process," or continue to persist with their "failing" strategy aimed at weakening Russia.

In a post on X on Saturday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, similarly hailed the Putin-Trump meeting for having made the "world a safer place than it was yesterday."

Speaking to Fox News following the summit, the US president described the talks with his Russian counterpart as "warm," bringing the sides "pretty close to the end" of the Ukraine conflict, with "one or two pretty significant items" left to iron out.

Putin characterized the talks with Trump as "constructive" and "useful."