A senior member of Slovakia's government met his Russian counterpart on March 2 in a rare high-level encounter between an EU member state and a country that the bloc has sought to isolate. Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar held talks with Russia's Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Turkey, the countries said. The meeting, one of the few involving senior European and Russian officials since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, was immediately criticized by Slovak opposition parties. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has opposed sending military aid to Ukraine, said the encounter "was an example of our balanced and sovereign" foreign policy.
Slovak Foreign Minister Meets With Russia's Lavrov In Turkey
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (left) meets with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Antalya, Turkey, on March 2.