"We offered our assistance to the people of Slovakia during their adaptation to the absence of Russian gas transit, but Fico arrogantly refused," Zelensky said in a post on X. "Many in Europe warned him that doing nothing and waiting was not an option. Now, he's resorting to PR, lies, and loud accusations to shift the blame away from himself onto someone else." Ukraine did not renew a pre-war agreement to transit Russian gas to Europe via Ukrainian territory, instead allowing the deal to expire on Jan. 1. Kyiv warned repeatedly that it would not extend the deal in order to stop financing Russia's full-scale war. Slovakia, still heavily reliant on Russian gas even as other EU countries find alternative energy providers, harshly criticized Ukraine's decision.