On His Return from China Premier Fico Is Set to Meet Zelenskyy on Friday

Bratislava, 1 September (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) confirmed that during his visit to Beijing he is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other statesmen, TASR has learnt from Fico's post on a social network on Monday. On his return from Beijing, he's due to move to eastern Slovakia to hold a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday (5 September). "If there is a chance to meet with world leaders in Beijing, in addition to paying respect to the victims of war, it should be taken. Heads of states representing billions of people will be there. There will be heads of states who have their own views, perhaps right, perhaps wrong, but views that must be listened to and respected," stated Fico, noting that EU officials had been notified of his trip in good time. He added that Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) had exchanged the necessary information with European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas. The Government's Office reported that the premier will fly to China on Monday evening. He will meet Putin on Tuesday (2 September), attend the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War on Wednesday (3 September). He will also honour the victims of the war by laying a wreath at the Heroes' Memorial in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. "On Thursday, 4 September, Robert Fico will hold talks with President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China, as well as with Chinese Vice-President Huang Cheng," stated the Government Office's press and information department. Fico said that he doesn't understand why only Slovakia will be represented in Beijing from among the EU member states. "A new world order is being created, new rules for a multipolar world, a new balance of power, which is extremely important for the stability of the world. Being part of such discussions means encouraging dialogue and not playing the role of a petulant child. This is how the EU and its leaders are behaving today," he said. The Slovak premier is due to attend a military parade in Beijing on Wednesday (3 September) to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Asia. Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet Fico on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin. am