Slovakia's prime minister threatens Ukraine for stopping Russian gas transit

Fico said he was stunned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's refusal to allow transit after the two leaders spoke at a summit in Brussels. Zelenskyy said Ukraine will not transit Russian-origin gas unless it has guarantees that the Kremlin will not benefit financially while the war continues.

This leaves importers such as Slovakia with few options to keep the route open. The country has proposed several alternatives, such as changing the ownership of the gas before it enters Ukraine, but Zelenskyy dismissed these ideas as “games,” Fico told reporters late on December 19.

While Europe as a whole is unlikely to suffer any harm if Russian gas flows through Ukraine stop after 2024, Slovakia is among the few countries that still depend on these imports, and the country is warning of possible financial damage.

Fico doubted that Ukraine “has the right to harm the economic and national interests of an individual EU member state” in such circumstances. If Kyiv does not allow gas transit, it will consider during Christmas whether to take retaliatory measures against Ukraine, he said.

Currently, Slovakia sends electricity, humanitarian aid, and private arms supplies, including ammunition, to Ukraine. The Fico-led government has refused to send military aid from its own reserves and has also refused to support Ukraine's NATO membership. It also tries to maintain friendly relations with Moscow and criticizes the involvement of the United States and most European Union countries in the war through military support for Ukraine.

The Slovak prime minister said he wants to continue talks with the European Commission over the next three to four days in an attempt to find “arguments on Ukraine.” He also said that his discussions with Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal were more constructive and he was surprised by Zelenskyy's “direct” words.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said he was aware of Slovakia's financial problems, but added that “it's a little bit embarrassing to talk about money because we are losing people.”

Ukrainian President confirmed the termination of transit from 2025 and emphasized that Ukraine will not allow Russia to earn additional billions on the blood of Ukrainians, so the transit of Russian gas will be stopped. Zelenskyy said that since any country in the world that can get anything cheap from Russia, “tomorrow or in a month or a year will be dependent on Russia.”