Slovakia threatened to suspend electricity deliveries to the Ukraine after the latter’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his decision to not extend a natural gas transit deal with Russia’s Gazprom.
The deal, which expires tomorrow, provides for vital supplies to Slovakia, whose president has been hard at work trying to secure the deliveries beyond December 31. Robert Fico has noted that alternative deliveries of natural gas would make it more expensive for the Central European state and lead to transit fee losses to the tune of half a billion euros, Reuters reported.
With Zelensky adamant about the Gazprom deal, Fico last week said “After Jan. 1, we will assess the situation and the possibilities of reciprocal measures against Ukraine.” The Slovakian president added “If it is unavoidable, we will halt the electricity supplies that Ukraine needs during grid outages. Or we will agree on a different course of action.”
Ukraine has become heavily reliant on electricity imports from the European Union as Russia pounds its grid infrastructure.
Zelensky’s response to Fico’s warning about the suspension of electricity supplies was to accuse the Slovakian president of opening “a second energy front”. “It appears that Putin gave Fico the order to open the second energy front against Ukraine at the expense of the Slovak people’s interests,” Zelensky said on X, as quoted by Reuters.
Slovakia promptly rejected this accusation, with its foreign minister saying on Sunday that Zelensky’s claims were “fabricated”. “We fully understand that they are exposed to a long-term war conflict, but that is why they should not create new enemies and fabricate a formation of a second front because member states of the European Union, including Slovakia, support Ukraine and its people,” Juraj Blanar said on Facebook.
President Fico doubled down on sounding the alarm, calling on the European Union to find a way to continue gas deliveries via the Ukraine. “We are coming to a conclusion that must be unacceptable for the European Union and its goals,” Fico said in an open letter. “Unilateral stoppage of transit through Ukraine towards Slovakia will cost European citizens, businesses and infrastructure tens of billions.”
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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