BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Slovakia’s Moscow-friendly prime minister for the country’s independent foreign policy during a meeting in China.
Putin suggested Bratislava should retaliate against Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure by cutting off its own gas supplies to Ukraine.
“Ukraine receives a significant volume of energy resources through its neighbours in Eastern Europe,“ Putin told Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.
“Shut off gas supplies that go in reverse,“ the Russian president added during their meeting at World War Two commemorations in Beijing.
Putin further recommended cutting electricity supplies to make Ukraine understand there are limits to violating other people’s interests.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has repeatedly criticised Kyiv and stalled European Union sanctions on Moscow over its Ukraine invasion.
Fico argues that European Union sanctions against Russia put Slovakia’s energy security at risk due to the country’s heavy reliance on Russian gas.
The Slovak leader has frequently criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in public and is set to meet him on Friday.
Slovakia has slammed Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, which Kyiv calls fair retaliation for Moscow’s nightly drone and missile barrages.
Ukraine has targeted Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline throughout the conflict, which carries oil to both Slovakia and Hungary.
The European Union imposed a ban on most oil imports from Russia in 2022 but exempted the Druzhba route to give landlocked Central European countries time to find alternatives.
Slovakia and fellow European Union member Hungary have asked the European Commission to act against Ukraine’s repeated attacks on the pipeline. – AFP
