Halting gas transit cut off one of Putin's last leverage points over Europe – Ukraine's foreign minister
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, believes that by halting the transit of Russian gas to EU states, Ukraine has deprived Russia of one of its last tools of influence over Europe.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister stated that stopping the supply of Russian gas through Ukraine will reduce Russia's ability to influence Europe and use energy as a weapon.
"Ukraine has cut off more than just Russian gas transit. We have cut off some of Putin’s last remaining leverage over Europe and his use of energy as a weapon. Europe and the world will be safer without Russian gas, oil, and other dependencies, as well as without Russia itself," Andrii Sybiha wrote on X (Twitter).
Україна не просто перекрила транзит російського газу. Ми позбавили Путіна одного з останніх важелів впливу на Європу та можливостей використання енергії як зброї. Європа та світ будуть безпечнішими без російського газу, нафти та інших залежностей, а також без самої Росії.
Advertisement:– Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) January 2, 2025
From 1 January, Ukraine ceased the transit of Russian gas that had been supplied to several EU states and the unrecognised Transnistria.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made it clear that Ukraine is not considering renewing the transit agreement with Gazprom and has stated that Kyiv will not agree to transport Russian gas disguised as Azerbaijani gas.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico sharply criticised Zelenskyy for these actions and sent a letter to EU leaders expressing dissatisfaction with Ukraine's decisions, and threatened to halt Slovakia's electricity supplies.