CaliToday (02/9/2025): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday openly called on Slovakia to cut off reverse gas flows to Ukraine, leveraging a high-profile meeting in China to praise the Slovak prime minister for his "independent" stance and pressure an EU member state to act against Kyiv.
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| Putin and Fico at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on September 2, 2025 (Maxim Shemetov) |
The proposal was made during a direct meeting between Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was the sole European Union leader in attendance at a World War II commemoration ceremony in Beijing. Fico, known for his pro-Moscow rhetoric, has repeatedly criticized Kyiv and been a reluctant supporter of EU sanctions against Russia, citing concerns over his country's energy security.
"We appreciate the independent foreign policy that you and your team, your government, are pursuing," Putin told Fico during the televised portion of their meeting, underscoring the deepening ties between Moscow and the EU's dissenting voices.
The meeting carries significant weight as Fico is scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—a leader he frequently and publicly criticizes—this coming Friday.
Slovakia remains heavily dependent on Russian gas and has been vocal in its condemnation of Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. Kyiv defends these attacks as a justified response to Moscow's relentless nightly drone and missile barrages on its own cities and power grid.
Seizing on this friction, Putin suggested that Bratislava should retaliate directly by halting its own energy provisions to Ukraine.
"Ukraine receives a large amount of energy resources through its neighbors in Eastern Europe. Cut off the reverse gas supplies," Putin proposed to Fico. "Cut off the electricity supply, and they will immediately understand that there are some limits to their behavior in infringing on the interests of others."
Ukraine has, throughout the conflict, targeted Russia's Druzhba oil pipeline, a critical artery that supplies crude oil to both Slovakia and Hungary.
The European Union imposed a bloc-wide embargo on most Russian oil imports in 2022. However, the Druzhba pipeline was granted a specific exemption to allow landlocked Central European countries, like Slovakia and Hungary, time to secure alternative energy sources. Both nations have since formally requested that the European Commission—the EU's executive arm—take action against what they term Ukraine's "continuous attacks" on the pipeline.
Putin's direct appeal to Fico represents a significant escalation in Moscow's strategy to fracture European unity. By encouraging an EU member state to actively cut off energy support for Ukraine, Russia is attempting to weaponize energy dependencies to undermine both Kyiv's resilience and the solidarity of the NATO and EU alliances. The outcome of Fico's upcoming meeting with President Zelensky will now be watched with even greater scrutiny.
