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Gas transit shutdown - Slovak President's answer to Ukraine

Gas transit shutdown - Slovak President's answer to Ukraine Peter Pellegrini, the President of Slovakia (photo: Getty Images)

On January 1, Ukraine stopped transiting Russian gas to Europe. In response, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said he refused to pay an official visit to Kyiv, Aktuality.sk reports.

“Under these circumstances, my trip to Ukraine is out of the question now. If I have to go there just to take a picture, and I am told that not a single drop of oil and gas will go to Slovakia, then I don't have to go there. Let no one be angry with me,” he said.

Pellegrini added that the Ukrainian government and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy have refused to transit gas, thereby fundamentally threatening Slovakia's energy security. He also touched upon the issue of oil.

“In a situation where the Ukrainian parliament is adopting a law that intends to ban even the transportation of oil to Slovakia, despite existing contracts, under such conditions my trip to Ukraine is currently excluded,” the Slovak head of state summarized.

Yesterday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Russian Gazprom would find alternative ways to supply gas after the contract on transit through Ukraine expired. In particular, this promise was made by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. However, it is still unknown what exactly they will do.