(Bloomberg) -- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he discussed the looming end of a natural-gas supply deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a rare visit to Moscow by a European leader on Sunday.
In a Facebook post, Fico said Putin confirmed that Russia was ready to continue delivering gas to the West via Ukraine, but this would be “practically impossible” after Jan. 1 given Kyiv’s stance.
The premier’s trip came a little more than a week before the expiry of a transit contract between Moscow and Ukraine that allows about 15 billion cubic meters of Russian pipeline gas per year to be shipped to a number of European nations.
Several European buyers, including Slovakia, are trying to put together a deal that would work for Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy indicated on Thursday that Ukraine won’t transit Russian-origin gas unless he has assurances the Kremlin won’t benefit financially while the war continues.
Fico is only the second European Union leader to visit Moscow since Putin began his full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The other is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who traveled to the Russian capital earlier this year in a visit that was heavily criticized by Western allies.
Fico’s trip drew a sharp rebuke from the Czech Republic, Slovakia’s former federation partner. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky was quoted by the CTK news agency as saying that his country has taken steps to decrease its energy dependence on Russia “so that we don’t need to crawl in front of a murderer.”
This was the first one-on-one meeting between Fico and Putin since 2016, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news service.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television earlier Sunday that the visit had been agreed “some days ago” for the two leaders to discuss international matters, including Russia’s gas transit.
Slovakia’s largest gas company SPP has diversified its supply contracts, but shipments from Russia’s Gazprom PJSC remains the most affordable option. The country also earns approximately €500 million ($522 million) annually from fees for transporting the fuel to nations such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy.
Last week, Fico held talks with Zelenskiy about the possibilities of gas transit and said he was surprised by the Ukrainian leader’s resistant stance. Orban said Saturday that his country is still seeking a solution that would allow flows to Europe via Ukraine to continue.
Slovakia, a member of the EU and NATO, shares a border with Ukraine. Fico earlier criticized his European allies for providing military support to Kyiv, arguing that it only prolongs the war.
He’s also opposed sanctions against Russia, stating that after the war ends, he aims to “do everything possible to restore economic and standard relations with the Russian Federation.”
--With assistance from Andrea Dudik.
(Updates with comment from Slovak prime minister’s post in second paragraph, Czech foreign minister in sixth.)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.