Slovakia will drop its Russia-sanctions veto this week if it gets a "political" EU promise on Russian gas, its prime minister, Robert Fico, has indicated.
Fico has been blocking the 18th round of Russia sanctions on grounds that a separate EU Commission proposal on stopping all Russian gas purchases from 2028 will cost his country billions of euros.
The issue is due to come to a head on Tuesday (15 July) when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels.
But on Saturday (12 July), Fico said he was ready to back down in return for high-level promises of post-2028 assistance.
"We want to see something on the table that we can present to the Slovak Republic and say ... this will be the [EU] Commission's position and the member states' position toward the problem Slovakia will face as of 1 January 2028", he said.
"We want political guarantees," he also said – a phrase he used several times in a long press conference in Bratislava, flanked by his foreign minister, Juraj Blanár, and agriculture minister Richard Takáč.
"The prime ministers of big countries must give us guarantees," Fico said.
"I believe that by Tuesday we will be able — at least at the level of some kind of statement — to say: 'Yes, this is where we stand'," he added.
The "guarantees" concern compensation for potentially higher gas transit fees and Russian lawsuits against Slovakia after the 2028 cut-off.
Fico spoke after meetings with the EU Commission and phone calls with Polish prime minister Donald Tusk and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
But the commission meetings didn't yield any legal guarantees.
And from the little Fico revealed about his phone diplomacy, this didn't go well either.
"Chancellor Merz said he is requesting the Slovak government to vote for the [Russia] sanctions. He said nothing more … it was a tough phone call," Fico said.
Hungary has also, in the past, vetoed Russia sanctions, in return for "useless face-saving" declarations by the EU.
And Fico tried to get ahead of that kind of criticism on Saturday.
"I know that everyone will again say: 'My God, but you didn't secure anything!' I know how everyone will judge it, but we know what we're negotiating about," he said.
He admitted that his position was frail, however.
"We cannot – as you surely understand – live in the EU27 and act like a lone wolf, doing whatever we want … telling everyone 'no'," he said.
And the populist leader also showed that part of the motive for his Russia grandstanding was his image.
"I am not a little boy for someone to simply think that if they stamp their foot, Slovakia will immediately do what is needed," he said.
Fico, who is friendly with Russian president Vladimir Putin despite Putin's full invasion of Ukraine in 2022, criticised Russia sanctions in general as "nonsensical, ideological, and harmful … [stemming] only from an obsession with Russia".
He also voiced lack of solidarity with Putin's victims.
"Why do we have to pay more because of Ukraine? It's all because of Ukraine. I'm sorry that there is a war there. I didn't cause that war," he said.
He attacked opposition MPs in his rambling press event, including on grounds they supported transgender rights.
And Fico attacked the Slovak press, saying they were so nasty about him that he risked being shot again.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.