Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in China in the coming days, the Kremlin announced. The talks are expected to heighten tensions between Bratislava and Brussels.

Fico is one of the few EU leaders who has maintained regular contact with Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said a meeting between the two was "planned" without giving details of what they would discuss or when exactly they would meet, AFP reported.

Fico will travel to Beijing for the parade on Wednesday, September 3, marking Victory Day.

Putin is in the Chinese city of Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and is expected to sit next to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the parade in Beijing.

Fico angered European leaders by criticizing the bloc's support for Ukraine and opposing efforts to reduce energy imports from Russia.

Slovakia is heavily dependent on Russian gas.

In May, he provoked Brussels by traveling to Moscow for Putin's grand Victory Day parade in Red Square. | BGNES