Putin guarantees gas deliveries to Slovakia, PM Fico claims

Reuters reported the information.

Fico claims that Putin "guaranteed" that Russia would "fulfill its obligations" regarding the supply of Russian gas to Slovakia after the expiration of the transit contract through Ukraine.

"I spoke to Putin about a contract between us and Gazprom, which says that they have to somehow deliver the gas to us. We are able to push something through the southern flow (route through Turkey), but so far we have storage, Slovak consumption is secured. President Putin guaranteed that they will honour their commitments," the Slovak Prime Minister said.

He added that part of the gas could be supplied through Western Europe (via pipeline connections between Slovakia and the gas networks of neighboring Central and Western European countries).

According to Fico, Europe has "suffered multibillion" losses due to rising gas prices caused by the absence of approximately 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas that transited through Ukraine in 2024.

Fico's meeting with Putin and the halt of Russian gas transit

On December 22 of last year, Fico met with Putin. He stated that he traveled to Moscow in response to the cessation of Russian gas transit to Slovakia through Ukrainian territory.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on Fico and Putin's meeting in Moscow, stating that for Russian "discounts," Bratislava pays with sovereignty or shadow schemes.

The Slovak opposition party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) criticized Prime Minister Robert Fico for his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. A protest was held in Bratislava.

On the morning of January 1, Ukraine halted the transportation of Russian natural gas through its gas transmission system.

On January 2, Fico reacted extremely critically. "On behalf of Smer (the ruling party), I announce that we are ready to negotiate and agree within the coalition to halt electricity supplies and significantly reduce subsidies for Ukrainian citizens residing in the Slovak Republic," stated the head of the Slovak government.

In Poland, following Fico's statements, officials assured that they were ready to increase electricity supplies to Ukraine.

On January 9, Fico stated that Slovakia might leave Ukraine without humanitarian aid, decide on a significant reduction or complete abolition of benefits for refugees, or halt electricity supplies.