The halt of Russian gas transit through Ukraine will impact the European Union, not Russia, stated Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in his New Year's address. The company responsible for overseeing gas flow through Slovakia confirmed the suspension of raw material supplies.

Russia’s share of the EU pipeline natural gas market dropped sharply to about 8% in 2023, according to data from the EU Commission. The Ukrainian transit route served EU members Austria and Slovakia, which long got the bulk of their natural gas from Russia but have recently scrambled to diversify supplies.

Ukraine’s decision to turn off the taps keeping Russian gas flowing via its territory to Europe has already sown trouble in the continent’s east,