Ukraine decided to suspend the transit of Russian gas through its territory, ending an agreement that had lasted even after the Russian invasion in 2022. The measure, described as “historic” by the Ukrainian government, generates tensions in Eastern Europe, where Moldova declared a state of emergency and Slovakia threatened retaliation against kyiv.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union In 1991, Russian gas flowed into Europa through Ukraine. The contract in force since 2019 expired yesterday without renewal, putting an end to a mechanism that still represented almost a third of the Russian exports of gas to the continent.
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“We have interrupted the transit of Russian gas; It is a historic event. “Russia loses markets and will suffer financial losses,” declared the minister ofe Ukrainian Energy, Guerman Galushchenko. For his part, President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated the decision as “one of Moscow’s greatest defeats.”
Despite European efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas from 2022, many Eastern European countries depend on this resource.
Consequences
While the Ukrainian gas pipeline is out of service, Russian supplies will now travel through alternative routes, such as underwater gas pipelines in the sea Negro or tankers with liquefied natural gas.
The situation is particularly critical in Moldavia, which faces a combination of energy crisis and separatist tensions.
Gazprom, the Russian state-owned company, had already significantly reduced gas supplies to the country, affecting the availability of electricity, mostly generated in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria.
The Moldavian president, Maia Sandu, denounced what he described as “energy blackmail” by the Kremlin. “The goal is to influence the 2025 legislative elections and undermine our European path,” said Sandu, who offered humanitarian aid to the residents of Transnistria, a proposal rejected by local authorities.
Slovakia, the only European Union member directly affected by the outage, also reacted strongly.
Your prime minister, Robert Fico, visited Moscow to discuss the issue with President Vladimir Putin and threatened to cut off the electricity supply that Ukraine urgently needs due to damage to its infrastructure.