Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that President Volodymyr Zelensky is allegedly traveling around Europe and "begging" and "blackmailing others."
Points of attention
- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico criticized President Zelenskyy, accusing him of begging and blackmailing other European partners.
- Fico considers Russia a reliable energy partner and boasted about Putin's guarantees for gas supplies to Slovakia.
- He highlighted two proposed solutions for gas transit issues, blaming Zelenskyy for allegedly breaking agreements regarding Azerbaijani gas and Slovak gas transport via Ukraine.
- The opposition demanded explanations from Fico regarding his meeting with Putin in Moscow, raising concerns about Slovakia's response to the suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine.
- Fico's controversial comments have stirred debates about the reliability of Ukraine versus Russia in energy partnerships, with contrasting views on historical interactions with both countries.
Fico lashed out at Zelenskyy with insults
The parliamentary committee meeting was convened by the opposition, which demanded explanations from Fico regarding his meeting with illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as well as information about Slovakia's further steps in connection with the suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine.
Fico "walked" over Zelensky during his speech at the parliamentary committee.
He (Zelensky — ed.) walks around Europe, just begging and blackmailing others, asking for money. This just has to stop.
Fico said that two options for solutions were prepared regarding the issue of gas transit from Ukraine to the territory of Slovakia, which were allegedly agreed upon by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
One of them was supposed to be an agreement between Russia and Azerbaijan to allow Azerbaijani gas to flow to Slovakia. But, according to Fico, Zelenskyy broke this agreement. The second option was a proposal to the parent company SPP to create a subsidiary on the Russian-Ukrainian border so that Slovak gas could be transported to Slovakia via Ukraine.
Fico called the Ukrainian president unreliable and said that sometimes he is "fed up with him."
Instead, he stated that Russia had always been a reliable partner when it came to energy supplies.
Russia has never deceived us, unlike Ukraine. I remember the situation in 2009, when I was in Ukraine, when I asked the Ukrainian Prime Minister Tymoshenko to give us some gas from the reservoirs they have in the western part of Ukraine, I got the answer that I was sent to hell. These are typical Ukrainians.
Robert Fico
Prime Minister of Slovakia
Fico bragged about Putin's gas guarantees for Slovakia
Fico claims that Putin "guaranteed" that Russia would "fulfill its obligations" regarding the supply of Russian gas to Slovakia after the expiration of the contract for transit through Ukraine.
I spoke with Putin about the contract between us and Gazprom, which says that they must somehow deliver gas to us. We can push something through South Stream, but for now we have storage, Slovak consumption is ensured... President Putin guaranteed that they will fulfill their obligations.
He added that some of the gas could be supplied through Western Europe (pipeline connections of Slovakia with the gas networks of neighboring countries in Central and Western Europe).
