SLOVAKIA: Fico To Meet w/Commission On Gas Supplies 9 Jan w/o Ukraine Officials

Reuters report comments from the Slovak gov't office stating that PM Robert Fico will hold talks with representatives from the European Commission regarding natural gas supplies on 9 January. A meeting involving officials from Slovakia, the Commission, and Ukraine had been sure to take place today (7 Jan). However, the Slovakian gov't claims it was cancelled by the Commission due to Ukrainian officials being unable to attend in person. 

• Reuters reported on 6 Jan, "Fico has accused Kyiv of damaging Slovakia by not extending a transit deal for Russian gas, and has threatened to cut electricity flows to Ukraine and reduce aid for its refugees. Kyiv has said the end of gas transit deprives Moscow of revenue as long as Russia continues to attack Ukraine. Slovakia has arranged alternative gas sources and routes, but Fico has argued that the end of Ukraine's transit of Russian gas meant that Slovakia lost its own transit revenue and had to pay more to bring gas from elsewhere."
• Fico's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December has drawn criticism domestically and in Ukraine. He is the third EU member state leader to meet with Putin since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine after Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and outgoing Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
• A Commission spox said on 6 Jan that “there are no security supply issues or concerns for the European Union following the end of the transit.”