Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Slovakia that Russia's Gazprom would find alternative ways to deliver contracted gas to Slovakia after the end of transit through Ukraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday.

Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday he had secured Slovakia's gas supply during a visit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month, just before Ukraine halted the transit of gas from Russia at the start of 2025.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico confirmed that Russia has pledged to continue supplying gas to his country despite the expiration of the gas transit agreement through Ukraine. Fico explained that this was due to Kyiv's refusal to extend its contract with Moscow.

In response, the EU diversified its imports, with Norway and the United States becoming the top suppliers by 2023. This shift allowed the EU to plan eliminating Russian gas imports entirely by 2027. However, nations like Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria, which still rely heavily on Russian gas, face significant challenges.

It seems that Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to open a second energy front against Ukraine. This was stated by the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky.

A delegation of Slovakia's far-right MPs, led by Deputy Speaker and leader of the nationalist party SNS Andrej Danko, is set to travel to Russia in January to "develop dialogue" following the visit by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The future of gas transit through Ukraine is at a turning point. If a last-minute deal isn’t struck by Wednesday, billions of cubic meters in gas flows could come to a halt.

Fico said Putin guaranteed that Russia would meets its obligations, although capacity in the TurkStream pipeline and connecting route taking Russian gas through Turkey to Europe was limited. "President Putin guaranteed that they will honour their commitments," Fico said.

Protesters gathered in Bratislava and other Slovak cities on Friday to rally against the government's drive to seek closer ties with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine. Media reported protests in about a dozen Slovak cities.

Slovakia has secured a guarantee from Putin that Russia's Gazprom will find an alternative route to deliver gas after the expiration of the Ukraine transit deal.

Fico said that Slovakia could halt its humanitarian aid to Ukraine, cut or cancel social benefits for Ukrainian refugees, and cease emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine. He also suggested using veto power over EU decisions as leverage against Kyiv.