Slovakia has the right to consider how to stop gas supplies to Ukraine, Fico says

Bratislava, Feb. 11 (CTK correspondent) – Slovakia has the right to consider ways to stop foreign supplies of natural gas to Ukraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said in a recording published on social media. Fico has repeatedly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Kyiv’s decision to stop transporting Russian gas across Ukrainian territory in early January, after the relevant contract with the Russian side expired.

Following Russian attacks on its gas facilities, Ukraine began taking gas again last week via a backup pipeline from Slovakia; according to Fico, the suppliers are foreign companies. Kyiv has also increased imports of the commodity from Poland and Hungary.

According to Fico, gas supplies from European countries to Ukraine are putting even more pressure on commodity prices.

The Slovak prime minister had previously threatened Kyiv that he would block EU aid to Ukraine in response to the end of Russian gas transit across its territory. He said Ukraine’s move would cost Slovakia revenue from the transit of Russian gas. The gas has now started flowing to Slovakia via Turkey and other countries.

Fico also said the EU’s inability to compete with the United States would lead Europe to buy more oil and gas from the US. He said dependence on supplies of the commodity from the east would thus be replaced by dependence on the west.

The Slovak prime minister repeated his claim that the war in Ukraine benefits Western countries, which he said want to weaken Russia through the conflict. He added that this would not happen and that Ukraine, which has been defending itself against the Russian military invasion for almost three years, would pay a high price. Fico has long criticized, for example, arms deliveries to Ukraine and, after being appointed head of his current government the year before last, approved an end to Slovak military aid to Kyiv from state stocks.