MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will not travel to Kiev to discuss gas transit on January 17, Slovak Deputy Speaker of Parliament Tibor Gaspar told TASS on Tuesday.
"Yesterday, [Slovak] Prime Minister [Robert] Fico published an open letter to [Vladimir] Zelensky and invited him to the talks. Zelensky proposed coming to Kiev on Friday, but that is not feasible. I do not believe it will happen," Gaspar, the representative of the Slovak prime minister's party, stated.
Earlier, Fico offered Zelensky the option to hold a meeting in Slovakia near its state border with Ukraine. According to the prime minister, "the meeting would create favorable conditions for an open discussion of gas supplies to Slovakia and other countries through Ukrainian territory."
Zelensky responded to the Slovak prime minister's invitation by suggesting that he come to Kiev himself.
Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine was fully halted on January 1 due to Kiev’s refusal to extend the agreement. Slovakia was among the recipients of the Russian gas. Later, Fico announced the cancellation of the EU gas consultations, initially scheduled for January 7, due to the absence of the Ukrainian delegation. On January 9, the Slovak prime minister threatened to take tougher measures against Ukraine unless the gas transit issues are resolved.