Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico declared his readiness to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but put forward a number of preliminary conditions related to the transit of russian energy carriers. He reported this on the social network X.
According to the Slovak leader, he plans to discuss the situation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during his visit to France.
"On Tuesday, I am going to Paris for a "nuclear forum". And then we will try to organize a meeting with the head of the European Commission - during these days, when I will be in France," Fico noted, adding that until the moment of coordination of actions with Brussels and Budapest, negotiations with Kyiv have no practical meaning.
The Slovak Prime Minister sharply criticized the Ukrainian leadership, calling on European institutions to take tougher action.
He directly stated that Slovakia, together with the European Commission, should "put pressure on Zelenskyy so that Ukraine allows on-site inspections and resumes the transit of russian oil." Fico is convinced that blocking supplies through the Druzhba oil pipeline harms the interests of the entire community.
"Because it harms the entire European Union and, of course, will not gain anything from it. On the contrary, it is losing the support of an increasing number of countries," he said.
The head of the Slovak government stressed that he considers negotiations premature until a unified approach to resolving the energy issue is developed.
"Until Slovakia coordinates its position with the European Commission, as well as Hungary... this meeting is meaningless. Since President Zelenskyy demonstratively does not want to let oil through its territory," Fico said.
Fico concluded that although he is formally "interested" in the dialogue, the actual holding of the meeting and the choice of its venue will depend on the Ukrainian side's willingness to make concessions on the issue of oil transit.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Orban promises to block "any decision" in favor of Ukraine until Kyiv resumes oil transit.
On February 23, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that Slovakia had officially stopped emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine.
On February 22, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to stop emergency electricity supplies if Ukraine did not resume oil supplies to his country.
On February 19, Slovakia announced the possibility of stopping electricity supplies to Ukraine amid the conflict over the transit of russian oil through the Druzhba oil pipeline.
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