Fico is heading to Ukraine to see Tusk with two open disputes over sanctions. The EU deadline expires on September 22, Congress approved tariffs for the biggest buyers of Russian oil

Prime Minister Robert Fico will meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Ukraine on Friday, September 18. Tusk said on Thursday that he would address Slovak and French objections to the European Union's sanctions against Russian individuals. The Union extended their validity by only a week, to September 22. HN ↗ SME ↗

At the same time, on Wednesday the US Congress finished approving a law named after the late senator Lindsey Graham. It will allow Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to one hundred percent on the five largest importers of Russian oil and, separately, on the five largest importers of Russian gas. Critics of the law cite purchases by Slovakia and Hungary as a possible reason for tariffs against the Union. Politico Europe ↗

Where Fico is going and what we know about it

Fico mentioned the trip on Thursday in Prešov at the opening of the academic year, and in the evening confirmed that he would go to Ukraine for a conference where other prime ministers will also be present. No official program has been published. According to SME, which cites the Pravda.sk portal, a meeting of representatives of Carpathian region countries is to be held at an unspecified location in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine. SME ↗

A euBrief source from within the government speaks of a summit of the Carpathian Integration Initiative, though the official name of the event has not been confirmed. Seznam Zprávy, citing the Romanian website informat.ro, reports that representatives of Czechia, Austria, Romania, Serbia and Hungary will also attend the event. euBrief ↗ Seznam Zprávy ↗

Last weekend, according to TASR, Fico announced talks with the new Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky. According to Denník N, this will be his fourth trip to Ukraine since returning to power in October 2023, and he has not once been to Kyiv — he has traveled to Uzhhorod three times. TASR ↗ Denník N ↗

Before his departure, Fico himself said that he fears war and does not want Slovakia to become part of the war conflict. SITA ↗ Štandard ↗

In Prešov he admitted to being skeptical. "I hope that tomorrow night, when I'm returning from Ukraine, I won't be as skeptical as I am now," he said. He added that after last week's meeting of Visegrád Four prime ministers in Bratislava, which was also attended by the Irish prime minister representing the country holding the presidency of the Council of the EU, he did not sleep that night. TASR ↗

Read also: Fico announced in Prešov a Friday trip to Ukraine

Union sanctions: deadline until September 22

Individual Union sanctions against nearly three thousand persons and entities sanctioned over the war against Ukraine were supposed to be extended until September 15. According to earlier information from Politico, Slovakia in particular opposed this, requesting that two names be removed from the list. France is also requesting the removal of one of them, billionaire Alisher Usmanov. SME ↗

Ambassadors therefore failed to reach agreement, and the Union extended the validity of the sanctions by only a week, to September 22. According to Lithuania's LRT, the second name is oligarch Mikhail Fridman. Kyiv Post ↗ LRT ↗

Read also: France wants Usmanov removed from sanctions in exchange for detainees. The EU extended the deadline by only seven days, and a six-month compromise also fell through

On Thursday in Warsaw, after talks with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, Tusk described France's position as surprising. According to him, Slovakia traditionally "takes a more cautious stance toward various sanctions." Following the Visegrád Four meeting, he said he is optimistic about these countries' overall approach to anti-Russian sanctions. SME ↗ Forum24 ↗

The law bearing Graham's name

The House of Representatives passed the law on Wednesday by a vote of 262 to 159; the Senate had already passed it in August by a vote of 86 to 11. It is called the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 and is based on a proposal that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced in April 2025. Graham died unexpectedly on July 11, 2026. RTÉ ↗

For the law to take effect, Trump must sign it. According to Politico, the Wall Street Journal, citing the White House, wrote that he intends to do so. Politico Europe ↗

The law is meant to introduce sanctions against the Russian leadership, energy sector, arms industry and shadow fleet of tankers. According to Austria's ORF, Trump could burden imports from Russia with tariffs of up to 500 percent.

The text of the law shows that tariffs of up to one hundred percent apply to countries from two separate rankings: the five largest importers of Russian oil and the five largest importers of Russian gas, calculated by volume over the preceding twelve months. The same could apply to five countries that most help circumvent sanctions on Russian oil. The lists are to be reassessed every 180 days. Text of law H.R.5334 ↗ Politico Europe ↗ ORF ↗

Why Slovakia is mentioned in this context

According to Denník N, American media consider China and India to be the main targets of the measure. However, it could also affect US allies including Japan, France, Hungary and Slovakia, and some in the US are even discussing whether Trump might use it against the entire Union. Denník N ↗

Politico describes it similarly. According to it, critics fear that the law will give Trump room to retaliate against allies who anger him, for example the Union, because of purchases of Russian oil and gas by some of its members. It cites Slovakia and Hungary as examples. According to data from the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, cited by Politico, since 2022 the Union has bought five percent of exported Russian crude oil, but 49 percent of liquefied gas and 32 percent of pipeline-delivered gas. Politico Europe ↗

However, being included in the ranking does not automatically mean tariffs. For gas, the law provides for an exception for a country that, during the monitored period, took less than 15 percent of total Russian gas exports and also took significant steps to reduce imports. Text of law H.R.5334 ↗

Slovakia is one of the last Union countries still importing Russian oil. According to an annex to the European Court of Auditors' report, it imported four million tons in 2024, which was more than a third of the Russian oil imported into the entire Union. Together with Hungary, it remained on the Druzhba pipeline. European Court of Auditors ↗ TASR ↗

Read also: More than a third of the Russian oil imported into the Union in 2024 ended up in Slovakia. Czechia has since switched to the western route, Slovakia remained on Druzhba

American Democrats also have doubts. According to TASR, Democratic congressman Gregory Meeks pointed out that Trump likes to use tariffs and has in the past imposed them on European allies as well. Hakeem Jeffries, leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, warned that the law has so many loopholes that sanctions against Russia might ultimately not be applied. TASR ↗ The Guardian ↗

Tusk's warning

On Thursday in the Sejm, Tusk said that according to intelligence services, Russia is planning hybrid attacks using drones and missiles against countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland. According to him, Russia could pass these off as unintentional and accidental incidents in order to weaken member states' willingness to respond under the NATO treaty. He described late autumn and winter as the most critical period of the fighting so far. TASR via Aktuality.sk ↗ iROZHLAS ↗

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, asked by TN.cz, confirmed that Czechia faces hybrid warfare from Russia. He did not provide details. TN.cz ↗

According to ČTK, Tusk wants to personally verify the state of the energy infrastructure in Ukraine. This is in response to an earlier statement by Trump, which ČTK summarized as saying that Vladimir Putin has committed not to attack these targets. Trump himself, in mid-September, publicly asked Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Ukraine not to strike Russian refineries. HN ↗ According to TASR, he wants to talk with Zelenskyy about cooperation within the coalition for European defense against ballistic missiles. Forum24 ↗ TASR via Aktuality.sk ↗

Limits of this account

No official program of Fico's trip has been published, and only an unnamed government source has confirmed attendance at the Carpathian Integration Initiative summit. The claim that sanctions will be discussed with Tusk stems from Tusk's own statements about Slovak objections, not from a meeting agenda.

Trump has not yet signed the law. The linking of the law to Slovakia in the cited sources is a concern raised by critics and analysts, not an announced step by the White House. Data on Slovak imports of Russian oil end with the year 2024.

The cited sources do not include a response from the Slovak government to the American law.

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