'We're not EU parrot, so Trump…': Putin's friend inside NATO shocks west| Ukraine| Russia| Slovakia

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico portrays his recent meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump as proof that a “sovereign” foreign policy in all directions—toward Washington, Moscow, Beijing and others—earns Slovakia respect and equal treatment. He says the talks, held informally in Trump’s private home in Florida with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár present, focused heavily on Ukraine, where Fico repeated his well‑known stance that diplomacy and listening must take precedence over military solutions, and on what he calls a European Union in “deep crisis” over competitiveness, energy and migration.