Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday hailed the end of Russian gas transit across his country as a significant "defeat" for Moscow amid its near three-year invasion.
Flows of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine stopped on Wednesday morning after Zelensky refused to prolong decades of cooperation that had earned billions of dollars for both Moscow and Kyiv.
Ukraine has attacked countries that still buy Russian energy as helping fuel Moscow's war machine, but the decision has caused mixed reactions in Europe, Russia's top gas customer before the February 2022 invasion.
Moscow says Ukraine is shooting itself in the foot and frustrating its partners in eastern Europe that rely on Russian supplies.
Russian gas accounted for less than 10 percent of the European Union's gas imports in 2023 -- down from more than 40 percent before the war.
But some of the bloc's eastern members are still heavily reliant on Russian imports.
'Defeat'
Zelensky pointed the finger directly at Russian President Vladimir Putin for the breakdown in gas ties.
"When Putin was given power in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual gas pumping through Ukraine to Europe was 130+ billion cubic metres. Today, the transit of Russian gas is 0," he said on social media.
"This is one of Moscow's biggest defeats," he added.
"As a result of Russia weaponising energy and resorting to cynical blackmail of partners, Moscow lost one of the most profitable and geographically accessible markets."
The move was welcomed by Ukraine's close ally Poland, who called it a "new victory" for the West, following Sweden and Finland joining the NATO military alliance.
But Slovakia, reliant on Russian gas, has slammed the move.
"Halting gas transit via Ukraine will have a drastic impact on us all in the EU but not on the Russian Federation," said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has pushed Bratislava closer to Moscow since returning to power in 2023.
Without specifying who he was referring to, Zelensky called on others to "withstand the hysteria of some European politicians who prefer mafia schemes with Moscow to a transparent energy policy".
He urged the United States to increase its energy supplies to Europe, saying increased imports from allies would mean "the sooner the last negative effects of Europe's energy dependence on Russia will be overcome".
European natural gas prices climbed above 50 euros ($51.78) per megawatt hour for the first time in over a year on Tuesday as buyers in Eastern Europe braced for the long-expected halt in supplies.
Hungary, which also buys significant quantities of Russian gas is set to be largely unaffected by the move, as it receives Russian gas via the Black Sea pipeline, an alternative route that bypasses Ukraine by running through Turkey and up through the Balkans.
Brussels has downplayed the impact that the loss of Russian gas supply will have on the 27-member bloc overall.
"The Commission has been working for more than a year specifically on preparing for a scenario without Russian gas transiting via Ukraine," it told AFP on Tuesday.
With AFP
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