Zelensky Charges Slovakia's Fico With Opening "Second Energy Front" At Moscow's Bidding
Slovakia has threatened to cut off electricity to Ukraine if the Russian gas transit route halts at the end of the year, as we detailed earlier. Slovakia is greatly dependent on Russian gas, and Ukraine is not expected to renew a major energy transit contract with Russian state suppliers.
With just a few days away from the start of the new year, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico escalated the standoff by saying he can leverage electricity supplies to Ukraine. "After Jan. 1, we will consider the situation and the possibility of reciprocal measures against Ukraine," Fico said in a video released Friday.
"If it is unavoidable, we will stop the supply of electricity, which Ukraine urgently needs in the event of grid failures," he said. The war of words and threats is ratcheting by the day.
Given that Fico just controversially met with Putin in Moscow, the electricity threat is going to add insult to injury at a moment Russian aerial forces have been pummeling Ukraine's power grid this past week.
Fico lashed out in the most charged statement directed at Kiev to date: "But who cares about Slovakia, right, Mr. Zelenskyy? But when you need something to keep you from freezing in the winter, you scream in frustration," Fico said.
Zelensky responded Saturday by accusing Slovakia, which is a NATO and EU member state, of opening a "second energy front" against Ukraine on orders from Moscow.
"It appears that Putin gave Fico the order to open the second energy front against Ukraine at the expense of the Slovak people’s interests," Zelensky wrote on X.
"Fico’s threats to cut off Ukraine’s emergency power supply this winter while Russia attacks our power plants and energy grid can only be explained by this," he emphasized. He charged that Putin is "dragging Slovakia into Russia’s attempts to cause more suffering for Ukrainians."
As Russia's aerial assaults on Ukraine's energy grid have grown worse, Ukraine has relied more and more on electricity imports from neighboring and outside countries to survive.
Zelensky has indicated the Slovakia accounts for 19% of Ukraine's power imports, which is a significant portion, and outsized given Slovakia's small geographic size. Clearly, Fico does have serious leverage at his disposal.
Today, I reviewed the details of electricity imports from the EU to Ukraine via Slovakia—accounting for about 19% of the total volume. Fico won’t cut off our imports. We are working with other neighbors in the EU.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 28, 2024
I have instructed our officials to work together with the… pic.twitter.com/SzhvOAjutl
"Slovakia is part of the single European energy market and Fico must respect common European rules," the Ukrainian leader further said Saturday.
Fico has long been target of vitriol from Kiev officials, given he has consistently and loudly opposed Ukraine's entry into NATO, in common with Hungary's Viktor Orban. "As long as I am the prime minister of the Slovak Republic, as long as I lead the deputies, whom I, as the party chairman, have under political control, I will never agree to Ukraine’s membership in NATO," Fico declared this past October.