Europe is ready to stop the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine from 1 January 2025. Besides, the European Commission does not comment on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's visit to Moscow. Source: spokesperson for European Commission,

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin on Sunday, a rare visit by a European Union leader to Moscow as a contract allowing for Russian gas to transit through Ukraine nears expiry.

The EU has a non-binding goal of stopping all Russian energy imports by 2027. “The end of Ukraine transit could speed up this decoupling, and would also imply a loss of $6.5 billion annually for Russia, unless it can redirect these flows to other pipelines or LNG terminals,” Bruegel said.