BRUSSELS, June 19. The European Union urgently needs a diplomatic communication channel with Russia, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told journalists after a meeting of the European Council.

“We urgently need this channel. We are not talking about trade [with Russia] now, we are talking about [effective] communication [with the Russian side]. That is a big difference,” Fico said. A permanent communication channel between the EU and Russia would help prevent the escalation of tensions in the event of incidents, such as the unintentional violation of the airspace of the community by drones.

“The communication channel [with Russia] is essential. It is important. In this, I support the President of the European Council [Charles Michel]. With this step, the EU is moving [towards negotiations with Russia],” the Prime Minister said. Slovakia, he reiterated, is in favor of an early end to the conflict in Ukraine and is ready to contribute to this in every possible way.

On June 17, the Bloomberg agency reported that one of Michel's key advisors allegedly held two telephone conversations with a high-ranking Russian official close to the Russian president, which caused anger in a number of EU countries. Subsequently, Michel's office, as noted by the DPA agency, confirmed the existence of contacts with Russia with the aim of opening diplomatic channels – without any exchange of views or negotiations. According to the European publication Politico, the vast majority of EU countries at the European Union summit in Brussels on June 18 and 19 spoke in favor of negotiations with Russia on the Ukrainian conflict, thus supporting Michel.

TASS / gnews.cz