Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met Slovakia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment Tomáš Taraba in Baku on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations, prospects for further cooperation between the two countries, and Azerbaijani gas supplies to Slovakia.

Slovakia is moving to secure a long-term natural gas contract with Azerbaijan for at least 10 years as it accelerates its exit from Russian energy dependencies. Slovakia's Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba announced the negotiations, emphasizing that Azerbaijan has proven to be a highly reliable partner in Bratislava's efforts to diversify its energy mix ahead of the European Union's mandatory November 1, 2027, deadline to phase out all Russian gas imports.

Slovakia's deputy prime minister announced he will skip the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics in response to the controversial Last Supper parody presented at the opening ceremony last week.