Kyiv stands firm on ending Russian gas transit deal after meeting Slovakia’s Fico

After a second meeting with Robert Fico's government, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reiterated Ukraine's decision not to extend its transit agreement with Russia, which expires at the end of this year, and urged European countries to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.

At a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD/NI) on Monday, Shmyhal stressed Ukraine's goal of imposing sanctions on Russia's energy sector to weaken Moscow economically as the war continues. 

“Ukraine will not extend the transit agreement with Russia after its expiration. The strategic goal of Ukraine is to impose sanctions on the Russian gas infrastructure, depriving the Kremlin of profits from which the aggressor finances the war,” Shmyhal wrote on Telegram after talks with Fico near Uzhhorod. 

Shmyhal urged all European countries to "completely abandon" oil and gas from the Russian Federation while acknowledging the challenges faced by EU countries such as Slovakia, which remain heavily dependent on Russian gas. 

“We understand the acute dependence of some countries, particularly Slovakia, on this resource. But we count on a gradual diversification of supplies,“ Shmyhal said, adding that Ukraine is ready to continue fulfilling its obligations under the Association Agreement with the EU and the Energy Charter Treaty. 

Last week, Fico stressed the importance of maintaining gas and oil transit through Ukraine, calling it “vitally important for Slovakia”. 

"Yes, we can buy it from the West, for example, and it's mostly Russian gas, but the reality is that we care deeply about ensuring that gas and oil continue to transit through Ukraine. And we will tell this to our Ukrainian partners,” Fico said. 

After Monday’s talks with Shmyhal, Fico highlighted that the discussions confirmed “a mutual interest” in maintaining the use of Ukraine's transit system for oil and gas. "This is crucial information for all of us," Fico added.   

The current transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia expires at the end of this year. Ján Pišta, a Slovak analyst at JPX, told Euractiv Slovakia in August that "all Gazprom's customers are preparing for this in some way" and that "there is a real possibility that Russian gas will stop flowing to Slovakia.”  

“However, It is expected to be another mild winter. And the gas reservoirs will also be full, thanks to the fact that we have about 60 billion cubic metres left after last winter,” Pišta explained. 

“Transit through Ukraine is about 14 billion cubic metres a year, so theoretically, in a worst-case scenario, we could cover that from stocks. Europe already has enough LNG terminals so that we can count on those as well,” he added.

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)