Pro-Kremlin sycophants in Europe continue their speculations and political games against the background of the war in Ukraine. We have already stated the fact of informational provocation by Viktor Orban, when he blackmailed Ukraine with his fictitious “Christmas truce”. The other day, his colleague from the pro-Russian cohort – the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, who visited Moscow on December 22 to meet with an international criminal wanted by the International Criminal Court, and the so-called president of the Russian Federation – Putin, stood out the other day. Before that, Fico made a loud statement that the president of Ukraine allegedly offered him a “bribe” for the fact that Slovakia will not receive Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine from January 1. Why this is a manipulation – further in the material.
Manipulation
WHAT DID FIZO STATE?
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi of allegedly offering him 500 million euros from Russian assets in exchange for Ukraine’s support for NATO membership. On December 20, Politico reported. http://surl.li/zsjjkh
According to the publication, during the last EU summit on December 19, Fico was among those who called for the continuation of the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine to Europe. Zelensky criticized Slovakia for this, saying that “it’s a bit embarrassing to talk about money because we’re losing people.” Fico later told reporters that Zelenskyi’s closed-door proposals were “absurd” and suggested that Ukraine was daring to harm the country’s economy. http://surl.li/sapkfd
“Fico said that after he told Zelensky that Slovakia could lose about 500 million euros in gas transit fees per year, the Ukrainian president “asked me if I would then vote for NATO membership if he gave me 500 millions of euros in Russian assets, and of course I said “never,” writes Politico.
WHAT ANSWERED ZELENSKY
Ukraine offered Slovakia compensation for possible losses from the stoppage of Russian gas transit and assistance in finding alternative supplies from the EU. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote about this in the X social network, commenting on the visit of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to Moscow.
“We were ready to do it. Fico did not want compensation for the Slovaks. And does not want to cooperate with the European Commission. For some reason, he considers Moscow more profitable,” Zelensky wrote.
He believes that Fico has shady deals with the head of the Kremlin, Putin, and that the Slovak prime minister is “fighting for money” in pursuit of personal interests.
“This is either trade in state interests, or working for one’s own pocket,” Zelenskyi said.
WHERE IS FITZO’S MANIPULATION HIDDEN?
So, there was an offer. And did it look like a “bribe”, a “bribery” – as Fizo puts it? No!
It is clear from the answer of the President of Ukraine that it was not about Fico’s personal offer of 500 million euros, but, as the President writes, “compensation for Slovaks.” That is, to the Slovak people. However, Fico in his statement formulates the message as if the offer of compensation looks like an offer to him personally, which is manipulation. In addition, it would really be absurd, because Ukraine does not directly operate with funds from frozen Russian assets. This is the competence of European and other international institutions.
The second element of the manipulation is that Fico weaves into the gas situation the issue of Ukraine’s accession to NATO, which the Slovak prime minister personally opposes. And when Fico says that Zelenskyi offered him 500 million euros allegedly for supporting Ukraine’s accession to NATO, this reinforces the emphasis of the personal offer. However, from the side of the Ukrainian authorities, according to the president’s statement, the topic of NATO did not appear in the conversation with the Slovak prime minister.
The third manipulative element lies in Fico’s statement, which he made after his visit to the Russian dictator.
“My meeting today was a response to the statement of the President of Ukraine, who answered my personal question on Thursday, that he opposes any transit of gas through Ukraine to our territory.
Similarly, the Ukrainian president advocates sanctions against the Russian nuclear program. With such a position, he causes financial damage to Slovakia,” says Fico. http://surl.li/eglvji
That is, this entire performance was a response to the statement of the President of Ukraine on the termination of the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory, which was made in Brussels on December 19, 2024. In this way, the Slovak prime minister demonstrates that it was then that he heard this news.
But! Back in August 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine was not going to extend the gas transit agreement with Russia, which expires on January 1. http://surl.li/icqygm
Moreover, on December 23, 2024, the European Commission confirmed that Europe is ready to stop the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine from January 1, 2025. This was reported by the spokesperson of the European Commission, http://surl.li/fnzehw
“The cessation of the flow (of gas) through Ukraine from January 1 is an expected event, and the EU is ready for it,” the spokesman said in the response to the news agency.
The spokesman recalled that the European Commission, in coordination with the member states, worked for more than a year to prepare for the scenario when there will be no Russian gas coming through Ukraine from January 1, 2025, and to ensure alternative ways of gas supplies for the member states , which may be affected by such termination of transit.
“The European gas infrastructure is flexible enough to ensure the supply of gas of non-Russian origin to Central and Eastern Europe through alternative routes. Since 2022, it has been significantly strengthened by the new capacities for importing LNG (liquefied gas – ed.),” said the spokesperson of the European Commission.
Accordingly, in August, Fico did not hear or did not want to hear the statements of the Ukrainian side, and during 2024, while Europe was preparing to stop the transit of Russian gas, he was either fooling around, or planned to “loop around” – for example, to ask for some kind of exception for Slovakia (as he did on on other issues, the same head of Hungary, Orban), or… thought that everything was decided by Putin.
And in the light of the fact that Fico did not go to Moscow specifically to see the head of the Kremlin, and did not address the EU leadership, this testifies in favor of the last version. But Putin once again demonstrated his weakness, declaring (according to the same Fico) that they are ready to supply gas, but Ukraine is interfering and he cannot do anything about it. Also, as in the situation with the Syrian dictator Assad, Putin demonstrated that he is interested in so-called “allies” when they have a more or less strong position and their support does not cost Russia a lot of resources or requires a lot of effort. When the situation changes, the Russian Federation and, in particular, Putin tell their “friends” that of course we are for you, but your problems are your problems…
