Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday (8 January) he had secured Slovakia's gas supply during a visit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month, just before Ukraine halted the transit of gas from Russia at the start of 2025.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will discuss the end of Russian gas transit through Ukraine with representatives of the European Commission on Jan. 9 in Brussels, Slovakia's government office said on Tuesday.

BRATISLAVA - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced Wednesday that he will travel to Brussels on Thursday to meet with the European Commissioner for Energy about the gas transit issue and "wake him up from his sweet sleep".

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said that the reason for his trip to Russia in late December was Ukraine's refusal to extend Russian gas transit after 2024. Source: Fico in an speech on Wednesday,

Slovakia has alternative gas supplies but Fico, who has ended military aid to Ukraine and sought warmer relations with Moscow, says Slovakia will lose its own transit revenues and pay additional transit fees to bring in non-Russian gas. He has also said European gas and power prices would rise as a result of Ukraine's actions.

Ukraine rejected Slovakia's claims that it had refused to participate in trilateral talks with the EU and Slovakia on Russian gas transit. Slovak, Ukrainian, and European Commission representatives were scheduled to meet on Jan.