Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz board train to Kyiv after Vladimir Putin’s Red Square military parade

Putin hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders at a Red Square military parade on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, sending a defiant message that he is not isolated.

The only leader of a European Union country to attend the elaborate military parade – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico – hit out at his EU colleagues on Friday after they closed their airspace to make it difficult for him to get to the event.

Fico, who broke ranks with the EU by visiting Moscow late last year, arrived in Russia after a circuitous journey made necessary due to Lithuania and other Baltic nations barring his aircraft from their airspace.

He met Putin in the Kremlin late on Friday evening after the parade and said his country wanted to develop relations with Russia.

Russian news agencies quoted Fico as telling Putin he opposed the creation of any new “iron curtain and pledge to do everything so that we can shake hands across a curtain”.

“Let us consider as a childish joke all the technical problems we confronted, created by our European Union colleagues.”

Putin said Russia appreciated Fico’s decision to attend despite the “logistical obstacles that were created. But you are nonetheless here.”

The visit to Ukraine on Saturday by its European allies comes at an unpredictable diplomatic moment in Russia’s more than three-year-long war against Ukraine. Trump has been pushing for a rapid peace after tearing up the policies of his predecessor since entering the White House in January.

After engaging directly with Russian officials, clashing publicly with Zelensky and briefly cutting vital military aid to Ukraine, the Trump administration has patched up ties with Kyiv and signed an arduously negotiated minerals deal.

There has also been a palpable shift in tone from Trump, who has signalled growing frustration with Putin’s foot-dragging over a ceasefire and Russia’s restatement of its demands for a settlement.

On the eve of the summit, the US embassy in Kyiv warned of a “potentially significant” air attack in coming days and told its citizens to be ready to seek shelter in the event of air-raid sirens.

Reuters