A meeting of officials from Slovakia, Ukraine and the European Commission on gas supplies planned for Tuesday has been canceled because Kiev will not participate, Slovakian authorities announced on Monday.
The commission is seeking a new date for the meeting, the government of Slovak pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico announced in a statement.
Fico accused Kiev of damaging Slovakia by deciding not to renew a contract on the transit of Russian gas through the country, and threatened to cut the flow of electricity to Ukraine and cut aid to its refugees.
The Ukrainian authorities have decided to cut off gas transit in order to deprive Moscow of that income, as long as Russia continues to attack Ukraine.
Slovakia has meanwhile agreed on alternative gas sources and routes. But Fico argues that the end of Ukrainian transit of Russian gas for Slovakia not only means that it has to pay more for gas supply from other elections, but also the loss of its own transit income.
Fico thus estimated the cost for Slovakia at 500 million euros and said that he would ask for the resumption of flows or compensation. The Slovak government is capping gas prices, and could face increased costs if it pays more for gas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Fico of opening a “second energy front” against Ukraine at the behest of Russia.
