Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, criticising the EU's plan to phase out Russian gas by 1 January 2028 under the REPowerEU strategy and urging a delay in voting on the EU's 18th sanctions package against Russia.

Slovakia's stance at the EU foreign ministers' meeting on 15 July was to seek a postponement of the sanctions vote.

Slovakia vetoed the approval of the sanctions during a meeting of EU countries' ambassadors, the diplomats familiar with the talks said