Politics Ukraine stops natural gas transit towards Europe
The transit of Russian gas through Ukraine towards Europe has been stopped as announced. The Russian gas company Gazprom announced on New Year's Day that it had no legal or technical means of pumping the gas through Ukraine following the non-renewal of the transit contract by the leadership in Kiev. Filling has therefore been stopped since 6.00 a.m. (CET). This means that Slovakia no longer receives Russian gas via this pipeline. The EU and NATO country had threatened Ukraine with consequences for taking this step.
01.01.2025, 07:25
SDA
Kiev had decided to do this in order to cut Russia off from further income, which the Kremlin also uses to finance its war of aggression against the neighboring country. The validity of the contract signed on December 30, 2019 expired at 6.00 a.m. (CET) this morning, Gazprom announced. The Ukrainian side has repeatedly refused to extend the contract, it said.
Slovakia, which borders Ukraine, had protested massively against Kiev's decision. The left-wing populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who critics accuse of taking a pro-Russian stance, threatened to stop electricity supplies from Slovakia to Ukraine.
The Republic of Moldova would actually also have been affected by the Ukrainian transit ban. However, the Russian gas giant Gazprom had already decided to stop deliveries to the former Soviet republic, where pro-European and pro-Russian forces are vying for power, due to alleged debts.
