Slovakia’s Fico Demands Ukraine to Transit Russian Gas, Threatens to Block EU Aid

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico reiterated his opposition to further aid to Ukraine and demanded Kyiv restore Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine. 

In a Saturday Facebook post that Fico said encapsulates his “fundamental positions,” Fico said he would not support Ukraine “either financially or militarily” in its defense against Moscow’s invasion, questioned the “peace through strength” principle, and criticized Ukraine’s decision to stop transiting Russian gas. 

“The Slovak Republic demands that the conclusions include an explicit request to reopen gas transit through Ukraine to the Slovak Republic and Western Europe. The situation is absurd, gas does not flow from East to West, while Ukraine worsens the situation in Europe because it takes away European gas,” Fico said. 

Russia’s gas transit to Europe via Ukraine stopped on Jan. 1 after the latest transit contract expired, with Ukraine opting not to extend the deal following Russia’s 2022 invasion. 

Fico added that “it is impossible to ensure Europe’s competitiveness if Russian gas supplies through Ukraine are not restored.”

In the update, Fico also threatened to veto the European Council’s decisions on Ukraine at an upcoming summit on Thursday if it “does not respect that there are other views than just continuing the war,” parroting a narrative similar to that of US President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

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Currently, 620,000 Russian troops are deployed against Ukraine, including forces stationed in occupied territories and Kursk Oblast.

However, Fico said Slovakia “respects the need to increase Europe’s defense capabilities” at the end of the update. 

Trump’s pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept a so-called peace deal without any guarantees or specific terms spiraled into a tense spat live on TV on Friday.  

Meanwhile, despite the ongoing rapprochement between the US and Russia, Moscow has vowed to capture four Ukrainian regions it claimed to have annexed in 2022, two of which Moscow only has a minuscule foothold at present. 

The Trump administration’s decision to pressure Kyiv rather than Moscow to end the war – despite the lack of mutual ground between the two and Moscow’s unwillingness to compromise on its war goals – has raised concerns that, based on Trump’s actions, a peace deal would amount to Kyiv’s capitulation.