Due to the war with Russia, Ukraine is paying much more than its neighboring countries, including Slovakia, whose energy imports will become more expensive after the end of the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory from January 1.
Ukraine is losing human lives, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday afternoon after negotiations with the leaders of the 27-member EU in Brussels. The Brussels correspondent TASR informs about it.
According to unnamed diplomatic sources from the EU, Zelensky debated “behind closed doors” with EU leaders at the summit.
Gas flow
Later, during an appearance in front of journalists, he reminded that Russia is still attacking his country and is not interested in achieving peace. He also responded to the question of whether it is true that after January 1, Russian gas will stop flowing through Ukraine to Europe, and whether he can imagine the transit of gas from other suppliers from other countries, even though it will be Russian gas.
He replied that Ukraine is very open and transparent in its actions. He confirmed that he will not extend the flow of gas from Russia through his territory after the New Year. According to him, Russia uses the billions of euros obtained from the sale of this gas to kill civilians in Ukraine.
Link to Slovakia
Zelenskyy admitted the transit of the origin of Russian gas through other suppliers, but emphasized that the profits from the sale of this gas must not flow into the coffers of the Russian Federation until the end of the war. He stated that some neighboring countries, such as Slovakia, tell him that buying gas from other sources is more expensive and that they are losing money and profits.
“When the Slovak prime minister says that Slovakia is losing money and profits, I say that we are losing human lives. We are losing much more than Slovakia,” the president said. He added that Russia occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plants during the war, and therefore his country does not have enough of its own electricity. Therefore, it also has to buy it and is losing in this area as well.
