BRATISLAVA, February 22. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he will ask the national power grid operator on Monday to halt emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine, according to a video statement he posted on Facebook, which is banned in Russia and owned by Meta, designated as an extremist organization in the country.

"Tomorrow I will visit the state-owned company that operates the national power grid and request that emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine be stopped," Fico said.

He explained that the move would be a response to the Kiev authorities’ suspension of Russian oil deliveries to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline. The country has not received oil through this route since early February. "What Vladimir Zelensky is doing will inevitably lead to retaliatory measures," Fico said. "If we are told to purchase gas and oil elsewhere instead of from Russia, even though it is more difficult and more expensive for Slovakia and results in significant financial losses, we have the right to respond. Slovakia is not a banana republic that will simply follow instructions from Brussels, Kiev, Washington or Moscow," he added.