After Meeting with Russian Dictator Putin, Slovak Prime Minister Fico Threatens to Cut Aid to Ukrainian Refugees
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has renewed his threats against Ukraine after a visit to dictator Putin in response to the suspension of Russian gas transit under a previous contract.
In a Facebook post, Fico called the suspension of Russian gas transit by Ukraine ‘sabotage’, saying that it ‘costs his country 500 million euros a year’.
After previous threats to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine, Fico also announced a significant reduction in support for Ukrainian citizens who are refugees in Slovakia.
He added that representatives of the Slovak government will discuss the issue of stopping transit in Brussels next Tuesday, 7 January.
According to the prime minister, the only way out of the situation for Slovakia is either to resume gas transit or to compensate for the loss of ‘almost 500 million euros of public funds.’
‘On behalf of Smer-SD (Fico's party - Ed.), I announce that we are ready to negotiate and agree in a coalition to stop electricity supplies and to significantly reduce support for Ukrainian citizens staying in the territory of the Slovak Republic,’ Fico said.
The EU, on the other hand, has previously said that it is ready for Ukraine to stop transit and has a replacement for Russian gas.
On 1 January, Ukraine stopped transit of Russian gas, which continued to be received by several EU countries and unrecognised Transnistria, a territory of Moldova dependent on Russia and home to Russian troops.
After Ukraine announced that the contract for the transit of Russian gas would not be extended in 2025, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico flew to Russia to meet with dictator Putin, after which he voiced his first threat to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine.
Following this visit, the Slovak opposition accused Prime Minister Fico of treason and planned a vote of no confidence in his government.
In turn, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called Slovak Prime Minister Fico's support for Russia's criminal aggression absolutely immoral and his policy short-sighted.
‘It seems that Putin has instructed Fico to open a second energy front against Ukraine at the expense of the interests of the people of Slovakia. This is the only way Fico's threats to cut off emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine in the winter in the face of Russian attacks on our power lines and distribution network can mean,’ Zelenskyy said.