The flow of Russian gas to European Union countries via Ukraine has stopped after a five-year deal expired, marking the end of a decades-old arrangement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country would not allow Russia “to earn additional billions from our blood.” Meanwhile, the Polish government said stopping arms production was “another victory” against Moscow.

The European Commission said that the European Union was prepared for change and that most countries were able to adapt. Moldova, which is not a member of the European Union, is already suffering from a shortage.

Russia can still send gas to Hungary, Turkey and Serbia via the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea.

The Russian company Gazprom confirmed that gas exports through Ukraine to Europe stopped as of 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

Moscow has been transporting gas to Europe via Ukraine since 1991.

Although the direct effects were mild, the strategic and symbolic impact for the whole of Europe was enormous.

Russia has lost an important market, but its President Vladimir Putin says EU countries will suffer most.

The European Union has significantly reduced gas imports from Russia since it began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but a number of eastern member states remain largely dependent on supplies, leaving Russia around 5 billion euros ($5.2 billion, 4.2 billion euros). British pounds). year.

Russian gas represents less than 10% of European Union gas imports in 2023. By mass. This number was 40% in 2021.

But several EU members, including Slovakia and Austria, continue to import large amounts of gas from Russia.

Austria’s energy regulator said it did not expect any outages because it had diversified energy sources and built up reserves.

But the end of the transit deal has already caused serious tensions with Slovakia, which is now the main entry point for Russian gas into the EU and has received transit fees from delivering gas to Austria, Hungary and Italy.

Slovakia said it would pay more for alternative routes. The Energy Regulatory Authority announced in early December that gas prices for consumers would rise in 2025.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday that ending the agreement would have “serious” consequences for EU countries but not for Russia.

On Friday, Vico – who had just risen A surprise visit to Moscow For talks with Putin – he threatened to stop supplying electricity to Ukraine.

This prompted Zelensky to accuse Fico of helping Putin “finance the war and weaken Ukraine.”

“Fico is dragging Slovakia into Russia’s attempts to cause more suffering to Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian president said.

Poland has offered to support Kiev if Slovakia cuts off its electricity exports, supplies that are critical to Ukraine, whose power plants are under regular attacks from Russia.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that there were alternative routes for gas supplies from international markets, such as a terminal in Croatia and connections from Germany and Poland.

“These methods should be explored so that Russia does not make money selling oil and gas to the European Union,” Sikorsky said.

He added that Poland imports gas from the United States, Qatar and the North Sea.

“As far as I know, all countries have alternative methods,” he said.

Moldova – which is not part of the European Union – could be seriously affected by the expiration of the transit agreement. Most of its electricity needs are generated in a power station fed by Russian gas.

It also supplied the Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, a small piece of land between Moldova and Ukraine where about 300,000 people live.

Russian gas company Gazprom said on December 28 that it would restrict gas supplies to Moldova on January 1, because it said it had failed to meet its payment obligations.

Dorin Resian, Moldova’s prime minister, denied the alleged debts and accused Russia of using “energy as a political weapon” in a social media post. He said the move would leave Transnistria “without light and heat in the middle of winter.”

Energy company Tirasteploenergo said on Telegram that heat and hot water were cut off from Transnistria “due to the temporary interruption of gas supplies” at 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

She urged residents to dress warmly, gather family members together in one room, hang blankets or thick curtains on the windows, and use electric heaters.

The temperature was set to drop below 0 degrees Celsius on Wednesday night. The company said that medical institutions and hospitals are still receiving supplies.

Moldova’s Energy Minister, Constantin Borusan, said his government had taken steps to ensure stable energy supplies, but called on citizens to save energy.

A 60-day state of emergency has been in place in the energy sector since mid-December.

President Maia Sandu has accused the Kremlin of “blackmail”, perhaps with the aim of destabilizing her country ahead of general elections in 2025. Moldova’s government also said it had offered assistance to Transnistria.

The EU has found alternative sources in liquefied natural gas from Qatar and the United States, as well as pipelined gas from Norway, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In December, the European Commission Plans made To completely replace the gas passing through Ukraine.