The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, has once again threatened to veto the European Union's sanctions against Russia. This will happen if Ukraine does not restore the transit of Russian gas, Bloomberg reports.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has sought the resumption of Russian gas transit through Ukraine, will discuss the issue with European Commission officials on Thursday, his office said on Tuesday.

Relations between Robert Fico in Bratislava and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv have become increasingly bitter over the month.

Slovakia avoided a shortfall in domestic natural gas supplies in January, despite previous fears voiced by Prime Minister Robert Fico following the halt in Russian gas pipeline flows

Russia would like to see a resumption in the transit of gas via Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, after the European Commission issued a statement saying it planned to continue talks with Kyiv on natural gas supplies to Europe.

Slovakia’s pro-Russian prime minister has raised the prospect of his country leaving the European Union and Nato, arguing that world events could consign them to the “history books”.

Václav Bartuška, the Czech Foreign Ministry's Special Envoy for Energy Security, explained this statement. "For the Czech Republic and Europe in general, this does not matter fundamentally," he said.

The ongoing conflict has highlighted the importance of diversifying gas supplies to build resilience against geopolitical risks.