BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters in the Slovak capital held banners and chanted slogans on Friday accusing Prime Minister Robert Fico of dragging the country towards Russia after he met President Vladimir Putin last month amid a gas dispute with Ukraine.

Tensions are rising between Ukraine and Slovakia. After Slovakia's pro-Russian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, insulted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the latter decided to respond. "It’s good that Slovakia’s Prime Minister Fico has finally returned from his vacation at a luxurious hotel in Vietnam and is now in Bratislava.

Slovakia is weighing measures against Ukraine including withholding aid if a solution is not found to halted Russian gas transit through the country, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday after talks with EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to visit Ukraine's capital Kyiv this Friday, responding to his offer of talks to try to resolve a spat over the end of Russian gas deliveries.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico proposed President Volodymyr Zelensky a meeting in Slovakia to discuss halting the Russian gas transit through Ukraine in his video address on Jan. 13 on Facebook. "Okay.

Slovakia could take retaliatory measures against Ukraine after Kyiv halted the flow of Russian gas through its territory, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned Thursday.

Slovak President Peter Pellegrini refuses to pay an official visit to Kyiv because Ukraine has stopped the transit of Russian gas that Slovakia had been receiving. Source: Slovak publication Aktuality,

Slovak President Petr Pellegrini refused to go to Ukraine. This was reported by the Slovak agency TASR. On the air of the TV channel, Pellegrini said that his trip to Kiev was impossible under the circumstances. He explained this by the fact that Vladimir Zelensky refuses to transit gas to Slovakia.

Thousands of Slovaks have taken to the streets as protests against the pro-Russia policies of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico spread from Slovakia's capital to towns and cities across the country and abroad.

Slovakia may halt humanitarian aid and emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine and leverage its veto power in EU matters should Kyiv not resume gas flows through its territory, Prime Minister Robert Fico said in Brussels today.

Slovaks took to the streets of Bratislava to demonstrate their opposition to Prime Minister Robert Fico's stance. They demanded a change in foreign policy and an end to cooperation with Russia. On Friday,