Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced on Friday in a Facebook video that Slovakia may introduce retaliatory measures against Ukraine if Kiev really stops the transit of Russian gas to Slovakia after the New Year. – After January 1, we will examine the situation and assess the possibility of giving a response to Ukraine. If it is unavoidable, we will stop the supply of electricity to Ukraine or take some other measure, said Robert Fico. The Kyiv leadership has already announced that it will not extend the contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, which expires on December 31.
The Slovak Prime Minister stated that the transportation of Russian gas via alternative routes would entail significant additional costs. He also emphasized that stopping Ukrainian transit would also adversely affect the competitiveness of the European Union, according to his estimates, the resulting costs of the 27 member states could reach 120 billion euros in the next two years.
In his video message, Robert Fico blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi for the situation. He also said that the Ukrainian president is “incomprehensibly” rejecting the ceasefire and is leading the whole of Ukraine to disaster. According to the head of the Slovak government, the negotiating position of the Ukrainian president is deteriorating day by day, and “Ukraine will pay a huge price for this Western adventure”, it will lose territories and foreign military units will arrive in the country.
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Incidentally, the ceasefire was the idea of Viktor Orbán, who recently called Russian President Vladimir Putin with the idea that a ceasefire could be held at Christmas accompanied by a prisoner exchange. Ukraine hastily indicated that the Hungarian Prime Minister did not speak in advance, and that he came up with the proposal without Kyiv’s authorization anyway. This led to diplomatic tension, and the Russians were not interested in it all, they attacked Ukraine even on Christmas Day, which has been celebrated in Ukraine since 2023 on December 25. That is why, to put it mildly, Mandiner, who is close to Fidesz, did not forget to blame Ukraine.
According to Mandiner, the Ukrainians are to blame for the fact that the Russians are attacking them even at Christmas, people are dying.
Robert Fico held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday, who said a few days later that the Slovak Prime Minister expressed his readiness for his country to serve as a venue for Russian-Ukrainian talks. He indicated that he is not against this proposal.
Robert Fico recommended Slovakia as a place for future peace talks to Vladimir Putin, who did not oppose it. Volodymyr Zelenskiy sent a message to Robert Fico in Slovak after the trip to Moscow, hundreds of people protested in front of the government office in Bratislava
Source: nepszava.hu
