In his speech, Fico began by praising Donald Trump for the “energy” with which he approached peace talks, calling it “admirable.” He also commended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, agreeing that the war in Ukraine “must be stopped.

The simple answer is that the more Slovakia has turned east under Fico, the further mutual relations have gone south. The Czech Republic remains one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in its war with Russia, having welcomed 385,000 Ukrainian refugees (third most in the EU) and fronted an initiative to procure ammunition for Kyiv.

A woman who runs a pro-Ukraine group has been accused by Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia of plotting to topple him as part of his campaign against organizations he says are funded from abroad.

Trump has recently called Ukraine's democratically elected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "a dictator" and has said Kyiv should call new elections as soon as possible, even though Ukraine is at war and millions of its citizens have fled abroad or are fighting invading Russian troops.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Russia for the May 9 parade at Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, Russian news agency TASS reported citing a source in military circles.

Thousands of anti-government protesters commemorate the seventh anniversary of the killings of an investigative journalist and his fiancée in Slovakia. #EuropeNews

Fico, long a dominant force in Slovak politics, has often waged a war of words against the pro-Western liberal opposition, non-governmental organisations and media, accusing them of conspiring against Slovakia.

"I apologize to the citizens of Serbia for that, and I take the blame for that because I was probably tired and overwhelmed," Aleksandar Vucic said.

The Slovak National Party (SNS), which is part of the government coalition, demanded that Prime Minister Robert Fico apologize for the support at the UN General Assembly represented by Kiev and the countries EU resolutions on Ukraine.

Thousands have rallied all across Slovakia to mark the seventh anniversary of the slayings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee.

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Thousands rallied in Bratislava and other Slovak cities on Friday calling for Prime Minister Robert ... Fico and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a rare visit to Moscow ...