Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for talks on gas transit, amid disputes over Kiev's decision to halt Russian gas deliveries.
Ukraine cut off gas shipments to Europe earlier this year, following the termination of a transit agreement between Kiev and Moscow. With this decision, Kiev is aiming to stop the energy revenues that Moscow uses to finance its invasion of Ukraine, which began almost three years ago.
Fico said the decision had affected Slovakia, which borders Ukraine, through higher gas prices and the loss of tariffs for sending gas further into Europe. He said he intended to resume deliveries.
Fico said in an open letter to Zelensky, which was released by his office, that a meeting could be held in Slovakia near the border with Ukraine to discuss technical solutions to the issue.
"Such a meeting would create a good basis for an open discussion regarding gas supplies to Slovakia and other countries through Ukrainian territory," Fico said.
Fico has said in the past that a deal is close to being reached that would allow gas shipments to continue through Ukraine, with the gas ownership first changing.
However, he stated that Zelensky had rejected the extension of the deadline for gas deliveries through Ukraine during a European Union summit held in December of last year.
Fico has argued that Europe has lost billions of euros from rising gas prices, which were caused by the lack of about 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas that passed through Ukraine last year, including 3 billion cubic meters for consumption in Slovakia. /REL (A2 Televizion)
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