Slovakia will lift its blockade of the EU’s 18th sanctions package against Russia as early as tomorrow, July 18. However, immediately after that, the "second phase of the fight with the European Commission over Russian gas" will begin,

Slovakia will stop blocking the approval of the 18th package of European Union sanctions against Russia on Friday, Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

Slovakia accepted guarantees from the European Union’s executive arm to limit the fallout from a planned cutoff of Russian gas supplies and, in exchange, will lift its veto on the bloc’s 18th sanctions package against Moscow.