The Prime Minister of Slovakia accused Kyiv of causing losses to Bratislava due to the cessation of Russian gas transit.
Gas supplies to Slovakia were reportedly secured during Prime Minister Robert Fico’s trip to see Vladimir Putin in Moscow at the end of December before Ukraine halted gas transit. This is what the Slovak official himself said, Reuters reports.
“I had to secure at least gas for Slovakia’s domestic consumption, which we did, even without increasing gas prices,” he said, but did not provide further details on gas supplies.
Fico accused Kyiv of causing losses to Bratislava by halting Russian gas transit, which expires at the end of 2024, and also threatened to cut electricity supplies to Ukraine and cut aid to refugees .
According to the Slovak gas transmission network operator Eustream, after the cessation of supplies from Ukraine, Slovakia continued to receive gas through Hungary, which receives Russian gas through Turkish Stream.
Fico said the halt in supplies from Ukraine had allegedly cost the country 500 million euros in transit fees and 1 billion euros in higher gas prices.
He accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky of “sabotaging the financial interests of Slovakia and the EU” over his refusal to resume the transit of Russian gas.
Fico will meet on January 9 with representatives of the European Commission in Brussels to discuss the suspension of gas transit to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky accused Fico of opening a “second energy front” against Ukraine at the behest of Russia. Zelensky ordered officials to do everything together with the European Commission and other European partners to maintain the stability of the unified European energy system and European energy rules.
Let’s remember that in Slovakia for two weeks there was no official information about the whereabouts of Prime Minister Robert Fico after his visit to Moscow on December 22. Slovak media established that he was staying at the luxurious Vietnamese hotel Capella Hanoi.
Fico refused to talk about his stay at a luxury hotel in Vietnam
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.