Fico announces guaranteed Russian gas supplies and again threatens Ukraine with sanctions
Kyiv • UNN
Slovakia's prime minister announced guaranteed supplies of 3-3.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to the country. If the situation with gas transit through Ukraine does not change, he threatens to suspend aid and veto further support.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Russia will supply the country with all the natural gas it has contractually committed to deliver in the coming period. After gas transit through Ukraine is stopped, Russia should use alternative routes, such as a pipeline through Hungary. This was reported by Trend, UNN .
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According to Fico, Slovakia has secured gas supplies for the foreseeable future, but the problem is that transit through Slovakia to other Western European countries will be stopped and, as a result, transit fees will be lost and prices will rise.
"In 2024, all measures were taken because we had to take into account the possibility of stopping gas supplies from the East, we have full reservoirs, we have diversification contracts, and we have no problems with domestic consumption so far. Similarly, the Russian side confirms that it will supply us with what it is supposed to supply - from three to 3.5 billion cubic meters. There is the South Stream, and there are other options," Fico said.
The Prime Minister reiterated that he believes that by cutting off supplies through Ukraine, Europe will lose about 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas, which, according to the Prime Minister, will affect prices, which are currently five times higher than in the United States. This affects the EU's competitiveness.
"This is the main reason why I was in Brussels to warn the Commission - they know this very well. If we do not continue to work on importing a certain amount of gas also from the East through Ukraine, we will see a shortage of gas in Europe and a huge increase in gas prices in Europe, which will certainly destroy us compared to the United States or China," Fico emphasized.
The prime minister added that if the situation does not change within a few weeks, he will launch retaliatory measures against Ukraine, which he already announced on Thursday. These include, for example, suspending the supply of regulated electricity to Ukraine, suspending humanitarian aid, or even vetoing further aid to Ukraine.