Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was in the Kremlin on Sunday for talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Fico’s journey to Russia was his first visit to the aggressor state since taking office in 2023.
Robert Fico became the third European leader, after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, to visit Moscow since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, at the European Union summit that took place last week in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized in a meeting with the media that negotiations with Putin were somewhat pointless.
Zelenskyy also made a definite determination in Brussels to oppose the delivery of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe, even under the guise of “Azerbaijani.” Fico’s claims were categorically rejected.
Previously, Slovakia has repeatedly attempted to extend the agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the transit of Russian gas, which expires on December 31, 2024.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on his Facebook page that he informed EU leaders about his trip to Moscow on Sunday. And he emphasized that he insisted on Slovakia’s sovereign policy, providing more details about his visit to Putin.
“My meeting today was in response to a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who answered my personal question on Thursday by saying that he opposes any transit of gas through Ukraine to our territory,” Fico explained.
He also reproached Zelenskyy for his desire for sanctions regarding the Russian nuclear program.
According to Robert Fico, such a position causes financial harm to Slovakia and jeopardizes electricity production at the country’s nuclear power plants, which is unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated at a press conference on Saturday, December 21, that his country is negotiating with Kyiv and Moscow to maintain the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine after Dec. 31, 2024.
Orban claims that the Hungarian side offered the Ukrainian and Russian sides a “trick” that could maintain the transit even after the agreement between Ukraine and Gazprom expires at the end of the year.
“We are now trying the trick … that what if the gas, by the time it enters the territory of Ukraine, would no longer be Russian but would be already in the ownership of the buyers,” Orban told a briefing. “So the gas that enters Ukraine would no longer be Russian gas but it would be Hungarian gas.”
The Prime Minister of Hungary stated that negotiations are currently underway, and while it remains unclear whether the parties will agree to this, Budapest is not abandoning the Ukrainian gas transit route.
At the same time, Orban assured that Hungary is sufficiently supplied with gas through the “Turkish Stream” pipeline, which goes through Bulgaria, and additional supplies from Romania.
Meanwhile, newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump warned the EU that it must commit to purchasing large volumes of American oil and gas or face tariffs.
“I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!” Trump wrote on his social platform, Truth Social.
The EU wants to stay out of a trade war with Trump, considering possible ways to avoid tariffs by buying more American goods, like liquefied natural gas (LNG) or farm products.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in November that the EU would consider buying more gas from the US.
Despite the desperate efforts of the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia to keep receiving Russian gas transiting through Ukraine, it seems that starting from January 1, 2025, this tool of influence for the Russian Federation on Europe will lose its power. Earlier we shared the statement of European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, that the EU is ready to completely cut off supplies from Moscow.
