Russia–Slovakia relations (, ) date back to when diplomatic relations were established upon Slovakia gaining its independence on January 1, 1993. Russia opened its embassy in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

in 1993. Slovakia also has an embassy in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Unlike Slovakia's neighbour and close ally

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, which has a negative view of Russia due to past events, Slovakia tends to have better relations with Russia.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

PM of Slovakia Robert Fico meeting President Putin

After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

started, Slovakia, as one of the EU countries, imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of " unfriendly nations". Slovakia joined other countries in spring 2022 in declaring a number of Russian diplomats ''persona non grata''. On 16 February 2023, Slovakia's parliament defined the

Putin regime Since 1999, Vladimir Putin has continuously served as either president (acting president from 1999 to 2000; two terms 2000–2008, three terms 2012–present) or Prime Minister of Russia (three months in 1999, full term 2008–2012). During h ...

as "terrorist" and formally designated Russia as a

state sponsor of terrorism State-sponsored terrorism is terrorist violence carried out with the active support of national governments provided to violent non-state actors. It contrasts with ''state terrorism'', which is carried out directly by state actors. States can s ...

. On 2 October 2023, Slovakia recognized rapprochement with Russia. On 25 October 2023,

Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who has served as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party D ...

became the Prime Minister of Slovakia On 20 January 2024, Slovakia's Culture Ministry said that Slovakia would resume cultural exchange with Russia and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. Fico met with Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

in December 2024 in Moscow to discuss primarily the transfer of Russian gas to Slovakia. He become the third Western leader to do so since the war started.

Trade

In 2021 Russia exported $6.05 billion of goods to Slovakia with natural gas being the main product. Slovakia exports were $1.98 billion with cars being the main product. Between 1995 and 2021 Russian exports have risen by an average of 8.14% p.a. whereas Slovakia’s exports rose by 7.19% p.a. on average. Slovakia is making plans on disconnecting from Russia's energy exports in accordance with EU decisions and sanctions following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In April 2023 Minister of Energy

Peter Gerhardt Peter Clarence Gerhardt (November 26, 1877 – August 5, 1952) was a track and field athlete at the 200 meters. Biography He was born on November 26, 1877, in Virginia City, Nevada. See also *United States at the 1912 Summer Olympics ...

dismissed Russian attempts to blackmail his country over energy supplies, although Russian crude, gas and nuclear fuel dominate the market in Slovakia. Gerhardt refused to cower over his country's support for Ukraine. 60 percent of its natural gas, 95 percent of its oil and all of its nuclear fuel are obtained by Slovakia from Russia. Slovakia’s main petroleum refinery was built to process

Urals grade Urals oil is a reference oil brand used as a basis for pricing of the Russian export oil mixture. It is a mix of heavy sour oil of the Urals and the Volga region with light oil of Western Siberia. Other reference oils are Brent, West Texas In ...

crude and thus “big investments” will be needed by it to accept other types of crude. In August 2023 the result of an international tender for the supply of nuclear fuel was won by Westinghouse.

Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom (commonly referred to as Rosatom rus, Росатом, p=rosˈatəm}), also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, (), or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian State corporation (Russia), sta ...

was excluded from bidding. It was reported in May 2024 that Economy Minister

Denisa Saková Denisa Saková (born 17 April 1976) is a Slovak politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Economy in the Fourth cabinet of Robert Fico since 25 October 2023. Saková previously served in the Cabinet ...

said

would not be allowed to participate in a possible tender to build the next nuclear power plant in Slovakia, which generates over 50% of its electricity at its existing nuclear plants.

References

External links

* http://www.rusemb.sk/ *http://fakproject.hu/docs/04-Duleba.pdf

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Bilateral relations of Slovakia {{Bilateralrelations-stub