The video was published on YouTube by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
“In our heads there is no finally resolved issue regarding the transit of gas through your territory,” said Fico Sviridenko. “I understand that there is a war going on. On the other hand, not all arguments can be accepted. Because the Russian Federation today is the second most significant gas supplier in Europe.”
According to the Prime Minister of Slovakia, in the process of Ukraine’s accession to the EU, it is important to determine the future of gas transit through Ukrainian territory.
“Can it be used or not? The war will end, and we pray that this happens as soon as possible. And we, as friends, want to speak frankly, because our views do not always coincide,” Fico noted. “Why, on the one hand, do we use the infrastructure to supply gas to Ukraine and cannot use it for transit to the Slovak Republic? No need to remind that the Slovak budget is losing €500-600 million annually.”
At the same time, Fico added that Slovakia wants to be a “good neighbor” of Ukraine.
Context
The transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to EU countries, including Slovakia, was stopped at the end of 2024.
In May 2025, the European Commission presented a “road map” for the gradual withdrawal of EU markets from Russian oil, gas and nuclear energy by the end of 2027. However, the European Parliament wants to abandon Russian gas next year.
Russian gas is still imported by Hungary, France and Belgium (12% of all EU gas imports, compared to 45% before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022), Reuters wrote on October 8. That day, EU ambassadors at a closed meeting agreed on a plan to phase out Russian gas and oil by 2028. He is criticized by Hungary and Slovakia, two countries in the European Union that still import Russian oil.
