HIGH on the agenda in the talks between Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radičová and her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on May 13 were supplies of Russian natural gas and the ‘letter of invitation’ sent in 1968 that led to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Slovakia, the SITA newswire reported.
Radičová reported that Putin gave assurances there will be no repeat problems with Russian natural gas supplies and that he considers the diversification of natural gas supply routes to be very important in preventing a similar situation to that which occurred in 2009. The prime ministers also spoke about the Druzhba crude-oil pipeline and other new energy routes under preparation.
Prime Minister Radičová also raised the issue of the ‘invitation letter’ sent to Moscow in 1968 and said that Putin understood her arguments and is willing to provide specific documents, if they exist, to Slovakia. The prime ministers also discussed the broad-gauge railway project that is under consideration, nuclear energy and its future, Slovakia’s cyclotron centre and military technologies and licences.
During his brief visit to Bratislava Putin also lobbied a meeting of the International Ice Hockey Federation in favour of his country's bid to hold the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2016. Russia was later given the right to hold the competition.
