Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will not travel to Kyiv on Friday at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss gas transit.
This was stated to Russian propagandists by TASS by the Vice Speaker of the Slovak Parliament Tibor Gaspar, who is currently on a working visit to Moscow.
"Yesterday, Prime Minister Fico published an open letter to Zelensky and invited him to negotiations. Zelensky replied that he should come to Kyiv on Friday. This is impossible. I think this will not happen," he said.
In an open letter, Fico proposed holding a meeting on the territory of Slovakia, near the state border with Ukraine, and "preferably as soon as possible".
The Slovak Prime Minister believes that this will create "good" conditions for an open discussion on gas supplies to Slovakia and other countries through the territory of Ukraine and possible technical solutions, taking into account the termination of the contract between Ukrainian and Russian companies on December 31, 2024.
The proposal came after Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the Slovak Prime Ministerʼs threats to limit aid to Ukrainians and cut off electricity supplies on January 12. The Ukrainian president wrote at the time that Fico "arrogantly refused" aid to Ukraine and was "trying to shift the blame from himself to someone else through PR, lies, and loud accusations".
Russian gas supplies to Slovakia
The agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the export of Russian gas to Europe through Ukrainian territory expired on January 1, 2025. Therefore, Slovakia and other EU countries are starting to look for alternative sources, but Robert Fico wants Ukraine to either restore supplies or compensate for losses, which the Slovak Prime Minister estimates at €500 million per year.
Russia said it was ready to continue supplying gas through Ukraine, but because of the war, Ukraine refused to participate in negotiations with Russia on gas exports through its territories.
Slovakian company SPP said it has diversified gas purchase contracts with BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Eni and RWE and has up to 150% of its customersʼ consumption available as a safety cushion. SPP said Slovakia has also diversified transit supply routes in case transit via the pipeline through Ukraine is disrupted.
Slovakia and Hungary have also had problems with Russian oil supplies this year. Babel reported on this in detail here.
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