Kyiv turned to the European authorities because of Fico’s threats

“We would really like everyone in the EU to comply with the standards and regulations that exist today,” Halushchenko said on Ukrainian television. “I wrote a letter to the European Commissioner for Energy (the European network of electricity transmission system operators), ENTSO-E and the Energy Community to ensure that these issues are addressed properly in terms of compliance with the law,” said the minister.

In his message to the nation on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi also spoke about compliance with European rules regarding energy.

“I instructed our government officials to, together with the European Commission and our other partners in Europe, do everything to preserve the stability of the unified European energy system and to comply with European energy rules,” said Zelenskyj.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian president accused Fico of opening a second energy front against Ukraine at the behest of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He was reacting to Friday’s statement by the head of the Slovak government, who threatened Ukraine with retaliatory measures, including the interruption of electricity supplies, if Kyiv stops the transit of Russian natural gas to Slovakia from January 1.

“After the first of January, we will evaluate the situation and the possibilities of reciprocal measures against Ukraine. If it becomes unavoidable, we will stop the supply of electricity that Ukraine needs in the event of grid outages. Or we will agree on another course of action,” threatened Fico.

Zelenskyj responded by saying that if Fico really did it, he would deprive the Slovak state coffers of 200 million dollars (over 4.8 billion crowns), which Slovakia collects annually for importing electricity. “Imports are not free and the costs are considerable,” he noted.

Ukraine, which has been fending off large-scale Russian military aggression since February 2022, has previously announced that it does not plan to extend the contract for transporting Russian gas to Europe through its pipeline network from the beginning of the new year. According to Kiev, payments for gas help Russia finance its military campaign in Ukraine. In the summer, Zelenskyi said that Kyiv is discussing alternative options, for example the transit of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

Fico claims, among other things, that alternative routes would sharply increase costs and would also affect Slovakia’s profits from transit. Last Sunday, the Slovak Prime Minister held talks in Moscow with Putin, on whose orders Russian troops invaded the neighboring country and unleashed the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II. After a meeting with the head of the Kremlin, the head of the Slovak government claimed that the continuation of Russian gas supplies to Slovakia will be practically impossible after January 1 due to Kyiv’s approach.