EU offers Slovakia “guarantees” in exchange for support for sanctions against Russia. Approval of the 18th package is expected in a few days

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that the European Commission has offered his country "guarantees" to stop Russian gas supplies in exchange for supporting the 18th package of sanctions against Russia.

He stated this on Facebook.

Fico promised to send a written proposal to the EU to the heads of all political parties in Slovakia and is awaiting their response. However, he did not specify the details of these guarantees.

The Prime Minister recalled that Slovakia will not vote for the sanctions package, which requires unanimous support from all EU member states, unless the Commission provides it with at least minimal guarantees on how to deal with the consequences of the proposal to stop Russian gas supplies from January 1, 2028.

Meanwhile, the European Unionʼs chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said in a comment to Liga.net that the adoption of the 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia is expected today or tomorrow.

When asked how she managed to convince Fico to vote for the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, she replied: "You see, the European Union is 27 democracies. This means a lot of negotiations all the time and just as many compromises. So sometimes itʼs difficult, but in the end we will come to a joint decision."

Meanwhile, Politico reported on July 14 that Malta is still resisting the new sanctions package. The country opposes lowering the price ceiling for Russian oil. Malta has a large tanker fleet and its economy is heavily dependent on oil transportation.

• On June 17, the European Commission proposed to completely stop imports of oil and gas from Russia by the end of 2027. Under the proposal, new contracts for the import of Russian gas would be prohibited from January 1, 2026.
• On June 23, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary and Slovakia would not support the 18th package of sanctions against Russia. According to him, both countries are against the European Unionʼs plans to completely abandon imports of Russian energy resources.
• Later, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said his country was ready to support the 18th package of sanctions. But Slovakia needed “guarantees” and €20 billion in support to mitigate the consequences of being cut off from Russian energy sources.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.