“Let them not be angry”: Slovak President refuses to visit Ukraine due to gas transit shutdown

On January 1, Ukraine stopped transiting Russian gas to Europe. In response, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said he refused to pay an official visit to Kyiv. This was reported by Aktuality.sk, according to UNN.

Details

Peter Pellegrini explained that he refused to go because such a step threatens Slovakia’s energy security.

The Slovak leader noted that he had already visited all the neighboring countries during his presidency, but that a trip to Ukraine was currently impossible due to new circumstances related to the termination of gas transit.

Under these circumstances, my trip to Ukraine is now out of the question. If I have to go there just to take a picture, and I am told that not a single drop of oil and gas will go to Slovakia, then I really don’t have to go there. Let no one be angry with me

Pellegrini added that the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have refused to transit gas, thereby fundamentally threatening Slovakia’s energy security. He also touched upon the issue of oil.

“In a situation where the Ukrainian parliament is passing a law that should ban the transportation of oil to Slovakia, even though we have existing contracts, under such circumstances my trip to Ukraine is out of the question,” Pellegrini said.

Recall

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is considering vetoing EU decisions on Ukraine due to the suspension of Russian gas transit. The country may lose 1.5 billion euros due to the lack of transit.