The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused this Saturday the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, of opening a “second energy front” against Ukraine at the request of Russia, at a time of deepening dispute between the countries over the passage of Russian natural gas.
Russian natural gas is pumped through Ukrainian territory to several European countries, including Slovakia, but the nation is expected to stop the flow when the current agreement — signed before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine — expires at the end of the year.
Fico, who this week visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, said on Friday that Slovakia could take measures against Ukraine based on the principle of reciprocity if Kiev stops the flow of gas from January 1 . One of the measures that could be adopted is the end of sending backup electrical energy to Ukrainian soil.
“Apparently Putin gave Fico the order to open a second energy front against Ukraine, in an attitude contrary to the interests of the Slovak people,” wrote Zelenskiy on the X platform.
Slovakia wants to maintain the arrival of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory, saying that alternative routes would increase costs and harm Ukraine’s own transit operations, with a loss of 500 million euros in tariffs.
Ukraine said it will not sign a new agreement with Moscow, due to the invasion launched by Russia in February 2022.
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Ukraine has been forced to import electricity from several neighbors since Russia began attacking its power grid in late 2022, damaging or destroying much of the country’s non-nuclear generation.
Zelenskiy said Slovakia currently supplies 19% of Ukraine’s energy imports, and that the country is working with its European Union neighbors to increase supplies.
“Slovakia is part of the European single energy market and Fico must respect common European rules,” he wrote, adding that cutting off energy supplies to Ukraine would deprive Slovakia of $200 million a year.
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Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Fico was siding with Putin in making “senseless threats” to cut off energy imports from Ukraine.
Since taking office in 2023, Fico has been one of the EU’s most outspoken opponents of military aid to Ukraine.
After their talks in Moscow, Fico said Putin had confirmed Russia’s willingness to continue supplying gas to Slovakia, although this would be “practically impossible” once the transit agreement expired.
