Slovak PM says Zelenskyy is to blame for Slovakia's gas crisis
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said that Slovakia is facing a "gas crisis" because of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Source: Fico at a press conference in Bratislava on Friday, 20 December, as reported by European Pravda, citing Reuters
Details: At the European Union summit the day before, Fico raised the issue of Russian gas transit through Ukraine, which the latter refused to continue after 2024.
"We are demonstrably facing a gas crisis thanks to President Zelenskyy," the Slovak prime minister said at the beginning of the press conference, without specifying what he meant.
Later, he said that he did not rule out that Slovakia would have to "think about reciprocal measures" in the absence of Russian gas transit.
According to Slovak media, the day before, Fico discussed a conversation with Zelenskyy regarding the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.
"We have differences on the issue of gas transit through Ukraine. I asked him whether he would be ready to transit other gas besides Russian gas," the Slovak prime minister said.
He said that Zelenskyy ruled out the possibility that Ukraine could transit any gas. "He asked if we could imagine paying for gas that finances the war," Fico described the conversation.
He also added that he had discussed the issue separately with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the summit and warned them that if Kyiv stopped transiting gas, it would become more expensive.
Background:
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed in a conversation with his Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico, that Kyiv rules out extending the transit agreement with Gazprom. However, he stated that Ukraine is not opposed to transporting gas through its gas transmission system, provided it does not come from Russia.
- The day before, Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine was not considering renewing the agreement with Gazprom on the transit of Russian gas to Europe and also made it clear that Kyiv would not agree to pump Russian gas under the guise of Azerbaijani gas.
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