PRAGUE, January 9. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico described stable gas supplies to the country as the main result of his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December.

"I needed to secure at a minimum gas for Slovakia’s domestic consumption - which we have secured, without even raising gas prices," Reuters quoted excerpts from Fico’s video statement.

The Slovak prime minister accused Ukraine of damaging Slovakia's energy security by refusing to extend an agreement on the transit of Russian gas through its territory. Fico threatened to cut benefits to Ukrainian refugees and to cut off electricity to Ukraine from Slovakia.

On December 22, the Slovak prime minister made a working trip to Moscow. Putin received him at the Kremlin. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders since 2016. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during the talks the sides discussed ways and options for Russian gas supplies to Europe.

On January 1, the transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine came to a complete halt due to Kiev's refusal to extend the agreement, which provided for the pumping of 40 billion cubic meters annually. Earlier, Russia's Gazprom said that the Ukrainian side's refusal deprived the Russian holding of the technical and legal possibility to supply fuel through this route. Data from European gas transporters confirm the completion of deliveries to Austria, Italy, Moldova, Slovakia and the Czech Republic via this route.