Zelenskyy to Fico: Ukraine Paying Much More Due to War Than Just Gas Prices

Brussels, December 19 (TASR-correspondent) - Ukraine is paying much more because of the war with Russia than its neighbouring countries, including Slovakia, which will face higher energy import costs when Russian gas transit through Ukrainian territory ends as of January 1, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday afternoon after talks with leaders of the EU countries in Brussels, stressing that Ukraine is losing human lives. According to unnamed EU diplomatic sources, Zelenskyy spoke "behind closed doors" with EU leaders at the summit. Later, speaking to reporters, he stated that Russia is still attacking his country and has no interest in achieving peace. He also responded to the question of whether it's true that Russian gas will stop flowing through Ukraine to Europe after 1 January and whether he could imagine gas from other suppliers from other countries in transit, even if it was Russian gas. The Ukrainian president replied that Ukraine is very open and transparent in its dealings, confirming that it won't extend flows of gas from Russia through its territory after New Year. The billions of euros received from the sale of this gas are being used by Russia to kill civilians in Ukraine, he stressed. Zelenskyy admitted the possibility of transit of originally Russian gas via other suppliers, but he stressed that profits from the sale of this gas must not flow into Russia's coffers until the end of the war. He said that some neighbouring countries, such as Slovakia, are telling him that buying gas from other sources is more expensive and that they are losing money and profits. "When the Slovak premier says that Slovakia is losing money and profits, I say that we're losing human lives. We're losing much more than Slovakia," said Zelenskyy, adding that Russia has seized Ukraine's nuclear power plants in the war, and his country therefore doesn't have enough electricity of its own. It must therefore also buy it and is losing out in this area as well. am/df