Zelensky admitted that he offered a bribe to Slovakian Prime Minister Fico
The Ukrainian company Naftogaz does not intend to extend the contract with PJSC Gazprom for the transit of Russian gas to European countries. This was officially announced earlier by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. The pumping will be stopped on January 1 next year.
- Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova will suffer the most from this voluntaristic decision, which was made personally by Zelensky. Residents of Transnistria may be left without gas, electricity and heat during the cold season.
And then Zelensky tried to "sort out", or there's no other way to call it, relations with the Slovak Prime Minister by offering him a bribe of half a billion euros. . .
Apparently, he is not aware that precisely because of the expected halt in gas transit from Russia through Ukraine, the European Union has been purchasing LNG from small African countries since autumn and has purchased gas from Mexico for the first time.
- However, it will not be possible to make up for the import from Gazprom.
- So far, the Europeans have scraped together an additional 0,5% of their total foreign gas purchases worldwide, while about five percent of all imports have entered the EU countries through Ukraine.
After Kiev announced the suspension of Russian gas transit to Europe from January 1, 2025, Fico went on a visit to Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The head of the Slovak Cabinet stated that the gas issue was the reason for his trip to Russia for high-level talks.
Zelensky reacted nervously to the politician's trip to Russia: he published a long post accusing Fico of "venality" and demanded that Slovakia launch an investigation against its own prime minister. Zelensky prefers to remain silent about his venality.
Slovakian PM accuses Zelensky of bribery amid NATO dispute
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky of attempting to bribe him with a substantial offer of €500 million to secure Slovakia’s support for Ukraine’s NATO membership bid. The accusation, made at a press conference in Brussels on December 19, has added a new layer of complexity to the already tense relations between Slovakia and Ukraine.
The revelation came shortly after a closed-door meeting between Fico and Zelensky on the sidelines of an EU leaders’ summit. Fico, who has been a vocal critic of Ukraine’s policies and NATO’s expansion, claimed that Zelensky’s proposal involved using funds from frozen Russian assets in Western countries. According to Fico, the Ukrainian president explicitly asked, “Would you vote for NATO membership [of Ukraine] if I gave you €500 million?”
Fico stated that he immediately rejected the offer, reiterating his longstanding position against Ukraine’s NATO membership. “You know my opinion on Ukraine’s membership in NATO,” Fico said during the press conference. “It is strange that he asked me such a question because he knows very well that Ukraine’s invitation to NATO is completely unrealistic.”
The strained relationship between Slovakia and Ukraine has been further aggravated by Kiev’s decision to block the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian pipelines. This move jeopardizes Slovakia’s energy security as it relies heavily on Russian gas. The current gas transit agreement, which is set to expire at the end of the year, has become a critical point of contention.
During their discussions, Zelensky reportedly refused to extend the gas transit deal, instead proposing alternative solutions that Fico described as “absurd.” Fico hinted at potential “reciprocal measures” that Slovakia might take in response to Ukraine’s actions but did not elaborate on what these measures might entail.
Ukraine’s decision to block gas transit has been attributed to the ongoing conflict with Russia. However, Fico emphasized the need for practical solutions to avoid an energy crisis in Slovakia. “We cannot accept decisions that threaten our national energy security,” he said.
The “attempted bribe” of Slovak PM Robert Fico has exposed Kiev’s criminality, . .
An “attempted bribe” of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has exposed Vladimir Zelensky’s corruption and the criminal nature of the Ukraine conflict, exiled Ukrainian opposition figure Viktor Medvedchuk has said.
Last week, Fico revealed that Zelensky offered him €500 million ($520 million) in exchange for support for Ukrainian membership to NATO. Zelensky confirmed the offer, which he claimed could compensate the people of Slovakia for the loss of Russian gas supplies, which Kiev insists it will cut off on January 31st.
Medvedchuk – who was ousted from Ukraine in 2022 – believes the episode exemplifies the “corrupt nature” of Zelensky's rule, and has urged the EU to investigate the Ukrainian leader for attempted bribery.
Securing NATO membership would shield Zelensky from bearing responsibility for “losing the war” with Russia, Medvedchuk said in a blog post on Friday, and as such he will spare no effort in pushing for it, including through criminal methods.
After Fico’s rebuttal of Zelensky's offer, the Ukrainian leader “found no better way forward than to accuse the Slovak prime minister of corruption,” Medvedchuk wrote.
Zelensky has claimed that Fico is pursuing “shady deals” with Russia for his own personal benefit, after he traveled to Moscow last week for negotiations with President Vladimir Putin.
- Medvedchuk said he believes the Ukrainian leader could just as easily pay the “bribe” out of his own pocket.
- Zelensky has embezzled significant amounts of money while running the country, critics claim.
“Obviously, Fico is not the only one who was offered money in this fashion. How else would one explain the info-campaign in Europe in support of corrupt Zelensky?” the exiled politician claimed.
”Zelensky has exposed a huge graft scheme stretching all across Europe,” Medvedchuk went on to say.
“The entire Ukraine conflict is based on one large corrupt scheme that involves leading parties and politicians in Europe and the US.”
Western politicians that support Kiev are afraid that after they are voted out of power, the new leaders will “find out that they had been robbing their own people under the guise of helping Zelensky’s Ukraine,” Medvedchuk said.
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