Dec 22 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin met

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin on Sunday,

Russian television presenter Pavel Zarubin said, as a contract

allowing for Russian gas to transit through Ukraine nears its

expiry date.

Slovakia is dependent on gas passing through Ukraine and

Fico has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for

refusing to extend the contract, which expires at the end of the

year.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, shown in a video posted on

Zarubin's account on the Telegram messaging app, said the

discussions were sure to focus on gas transit and the current

international situation.

He said the Kremlin meeting had been arranged "a few

days ago."

Ukraine has repeatedly said it would not extend the

transit deal with Russia nearly 34 months into a war between the

neighbours.

Slovakia, which has a long-term contract with Russian

giant Gazprom, has been trying to keep receiving gas

through Ukraine, saying buying elsewhere would cost it 220

million euros ($229 million) more in transit expenses.

Fico pushed the subject on Thursday at a European Union

summit in Brussels, which was also attended by Zelenskiy, who

reiterated that his country would not continue the transit of

Russian gas.