Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Slovakia that Russia's Gazprom would find alternative ways to deliver contracted gas to Slovakia after the end of transit through Ukraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday.

Thousands of Slovaks have taken to the streets as protests against the pro-Russia policies of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico spread from Slovakia's capital to towns and cities across the country and abroad.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said he wasn’t ruling out the resumption of gas through Ukraine after a deal between Kyiv and Moscow expired at the beginning of this year.

Thousands of protesters in the Slovak capital held banners and chanted slogans on Friday accusing Prime Minister Robert Fico of dragging the country towards Russia after he met President Vladimir Putin last month amid a gas dispute with Ukraine.

Thousands of people protested in cities across Slovakia on Friday evening against the Ukraine policy of Slovakian left-wing populist Prime Minister Robert Fico. The demonstrators accused Fico of following a pro-Russian course and of "betraying" Western allies and neighbouring Ukraine.

Slovaks took to the streets of Bratislava to demonstrate their opposition to Prime Minister Robert Fico's stance. They demanded a change in foreign policy and an end to cooperation with Russia. On Friday,

Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday he had secured Slovakia's gas supply during a visit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month, just before Ukraine halted the transit of gas from Russia at the start of 2025.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said Russia will if necessary deliver gas to cover the country’s domestic consumption this year, even as he seeks to restore fuel flows via Ukraine.

Protesters gathered in Bratislava and other Slovak cities on Friday to rally against the government's drive to seek closer ties with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine.