Slovakia is considering retaliation against Ukraine over its refusal to continue transit of Russian gas to the EU nation, Fico announced in a Facebook post. He made the comment a day after a behind-closed-doors meeting between the two in Brussels.
Kiev is determined not to renew a multi-year transit contract with Russia, which allowed the fuel to flow across its territory despite the armed conflict between the two nations. Slovakia is one of the recipients of the gas.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has warned of ‘retaliation’ after Ukraine refused to continue transiting gas to the EU state. Fico warned on Friday, that a serious conflict was possible if Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky doesn’t release our gas.
Slovaks are not servants doing the bidding of Zelensky, Fico, who in March was shot multiple times at close range by an activist who disagreed with his stance on arming Ukraine, insisted.
Kiev is losing decisively, while Zelensky absolutely rejects any ceasefire. Bratislava is sympathetic towards Kiev’s situation and Zelensky’s predicament, the prime minister said, but Slovakia is not at any war either with Russia or Ukraine.
Fico said the proposals regarding the gas situation, which Zelensky outlined to him at a European Council meeting, seemed absurd. One idea was to allow the flow to continue on condition that Russia would not receive any payment until the end of the Ukraine conflict.
What fool will give us gas for free? Fico asked journalists. Slovakia is helping Ukraine by providing non-military assistance, including by transferring electricity to its capacity-starved power grid, the prime minister said.
Relations between the two nations cannot be a one-way street, Fico asserted, adding: I cannot completely rule out reciprocal measures. His government will consider its options over the next week, he said.
Kiev previously floated the idea of letting gas that is not Russian in origin to be pumped through the Soviet-built pipelines on Ukrainian territory. Azerbaijan could be the source of such supplies, according to officials.
On Tuesday, European buyers of Russian pipeline gas, including Slovakia’s SPP, warned the European Commission that the looming termination of Ukrainian transit posed significant risks to members of the EU, and urged Brussels to act.
The escalating row has been caused by Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, during his annual Q&A marathon. Russian gas giant Gazprom can live without the transit, he insisted.
News Punch / ABC Flash Point News 2024.
Fico, was shot multiple times at close range by an activist who disagreed with his stance on arming Ukraine.
All a prelude to Greater Israel cutting out the Russian oil and gas and replacing it with the oil and gas they have stolen from Gaza, Syria and soon Lebanon, as they become the major supplier of those commodities to Europe and probably the world’s largest exporter of hydrocarbons which will soon be re-badged as not as bad as we have been led to believe