Slovakia has alternative gas supplies but Fico, who has ended military aid to Ukraine and sought warmer relations with Moscow, says Slovakia will lose its own transit revenues and pay additional transit fees to bring in non-Russian gas. He has also said European gas and power prices would rise as a result of Ukraine's actions.

Despite EU efforts to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, Slovakia remains reliant on Russian gas under a long-term contract with Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom. Switching to alternative supply routes could cost Slovakia an additional €220 million ($229 million) in transit fees.

Slovakia's coalition government is considering potential retaliatory actions against Ukraine following that country's decision to halt the transit of Russian gas to Slovakia through its territory. Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that his Smer party is contemplating a range of responses,

Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico on Saturday of opening a "second energy front" against Ukraine on the orders of Russia.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has criticized Ukraine's decision to halt the transit of gas supplied from Russia to the EU, calling it "Zelensky's sabotage." In a video released on Thursday, he reiterated his threat to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine and discussed possibly reducing support for Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia.