Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised Slovakia that Gazprom will find an alternative route to supply gas under contracts to Slovakia after the transit contract through Ukraine ends - Reuters quoted Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico as saying on January 10.
Prime Minister Fico had previously met with President Putin in Moscow on December 22 to discuss gas and conflict in Ukraine after Kiev decided not to allow Russian gas to flow through Ukraine from January 1, 2025.
Ukraine has refused to extend the transit agreement with Russia because Kiev wants to eliminate Moscow's revenue from oil and gas to finance the military campaign.
Prime Minister Fico threatened to retaliate against Ukraine for the temporary suspension. Slovakia wants to continue receiving Russian gas via Ukraine to maintain low costs and still collect money from being a transit country, transferring gas to European countries.
"I have spoken to President Putin about the contract between us and Gazprom, which clearly states that they must deliver gas to us by some means," Prime Minister Fico told a parliamentary committee.
"We can move partly through the southern route (through Turkey) - Mr. Fico said and said that Mr. Putin has guaranteed that Russia will fulfill its commitment, although the capacity of the TurkStream gas pipeline and routes connecting Turkey to Europe is still limited.
" President Putin affirmed that Russia will respect its commitments," Prime Minister Fico added.
Mr. Fico also said that part of the gas could be transported through Western Europe, referring to Slovakia's pipeline connections to the gas network of neighboring countries in Central and Western Europe.
On January 10, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responded to Slovakia's recent criticism of the suspension of Russian gas transit, saying the problem was from Russia and the unwillingness of "some politicians" to reduce their dependence on Moscow.
The end of the Ukrainian gas deal does not cause fuel shortages in Europe, while the EU has repeatedly affirmed that there is no need to extend the contract and that receiving countries of Russian gas can still access alternative supplies.
However, Prime Minister Fico said that Europe suffered billions of euros in losses due to rising gas prices due to a shortage of about 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas transported through Ukraine last year, of which about 3 billion cubic meters were for Slovakia's consumption needs.
Mr. Fico noted that a nearly reached agreement to continue transporting Russian gas through Ukraine, in which Russian gas changed owners before entering Ukraine, through an agreement involving Azerbaijan or the Slovakian gas importer SPP, but President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to extend any gas flow through Ukraine.
