Ukraine: Slovakia Bending Truth about Russian Gas Talks in Brussels

Kiev/Bratislava/Brussels, January 7 (TASR) - Slovakia's claims that Ukraine has thwarted negotiations on energy supplies in Brussels don't reflect reality, Ukrainian Ambassador to the EU Vsevolod Chentsov has told Brussels-based magazine Politico, adding that the talks themselves were initiated by Kiev and that they weren't supposed to be about gas transit, but about threats made by Bratislava. Slovak and Ukrainian ministers were due to meet in Brussels on Tuesday for talks on the consequences of a halt to the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory. They were set to be mediated by the European Commission. Only a few hours before the talks, the Slovak government issued a statement that the Ukrainian side was not going to attend the negotiations after all, and so the Commission cancelled the talks. "However, the European Commission is working with the parties involved to find an alternative date on which the meeting could take place. As soon as the date is known, we'll inform the media," said the Slovak Government Office. Chentsov insists that these claims made by Slovakia are false and that the meeting in Brussels was initiated by Kiev. However, he said, the discussion should have touched on warnings issued by Slovak Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) that he might stop electricity supplies to Ukraine. In addition, the Slovak government announced the possibility of halting aid to Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia. "Ukraine triggered the early warning mechanism in connection with electricity supplies after Fico's threats to put a stop to the supplies, and not because of negotiations on gas transit," said the Ukrainian diplomat. Chentsov stated that Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko was planning to attend the Brussels meeting but had to remain in Ukraine "because of the difficult situation in the energy sector". Meanwhile, instead of accepting Kiev's proposal for an online meeting, Commission officials suggested that the talks should be rescheduled, stressed the ambassador. am/df