Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has been criticized by political opponents as pro-Russian, has assured his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal of Slovakia's support in Kiev's efforts to join the European Union as soon as possible.
"The Slovak Republic's support for Ukraine and its ambitions to become an EU member is by no means speculative. It is fully-fledged support," the Slovakian news agency TASR quoted the Social Democrat politician as saying.
Shmyhal said the joint meeting between the Slovakian and Ukrainian government representatives in the town of Michalovce in eastern Slovakia resulted in "significant progress towards mutually beneficial cooperation."
Relations between Slovakia, an EU and NATO member state, and its neighbour Ukraine, which is defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion, cooled noticeably when the left-wing nationalist former long-term Prime Minister Fico won the parliamentary elections in the autumn and returned to power.
During the election campaign, Fico had said that he no longer wanted to supply Ukraine with weapons.
Specifically, the governments of Slovakia and Ukraine agreed to cooperate more closely in the energy sector and to expand transport links.
For example, a direct railway link is to connect Kiev with Slovakia's second largest airport in Košice.
Shmyhal told journalists that over the course of a year they also wanted to put defence cooperation on a new footing.