By Yuliia Dysa (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday blasted Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico over his reluctance to end his country's dependency on Russian gas, calling it a "big security issue" for Europe and saying Fico declined compensation.

Zelensky called Fico's pro-Russian energy policy "a big security issue" for Slovakia and Europe, asking: "Why is this leader so dependent on Moscow? What is being paid to him, and what does he pay with?

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday. The premier's trip came a little more than a week before the expiry of a transit contract between Moscow and Ukraine that allows about 15 billion cubic meters of Russian pipeline gas per year to be shipped to a number of European nations.