ATHENS

The end of Russian gas supply via Ukraine will have drastic consequences for the European Union, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday.

“The disruption of gas transit through Ukraine will have a drastic impact on all of us in the EU, not just the Russian Federation,” Fico said in a video message posted on Facebook for the New Year.

A five-year agreement between Moscow and Kyiv on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine expired on Wednesday after Kyiv refused to extend the deal, as war between the two countries continues.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said the transit of Russian gas was halted “in the interests of national security.” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko described the termination of the deal as a “historic event.”