Ukraine on the 21st of February condemned the “ultimatums and blackmail” of the Hungarian and Slovak governments after they threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv resumed Russian oil supplies, Politico reported.
Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off since the 27th of January, when Ukraine said a Russian drone hit a pipeline in the west of the country. The Hungarians and Slovaks have accused the Ukrainians of deliberately delaying repair work to achieve political goals.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on the 21st of February that he would cut off Kiev’s electricity supply unless it resumed Russian oil supplies to Ukrainian territory. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has also made similar threats.
In a statement published late on the evening of the 21st of February on the X, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned the Slovak and Hungarian statements, indicating that they are irresponsible and may exacerbate the growing energy crisis that follows months of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid and power plants. They have left thousands of residents without electricity and heating in the winter. The ministry’s statement reads that the actions threatened by Slovakia and Hungary, in the context of heavy and targeted Russian attacks, and taking into account Moscow’s efforts to deprive Ukrainians of electricity, heating and gas supplies during a period of severe cold, are provocative, irresponsible and threaten the security of the energy sector throughout the region.
Hungary and Slovakia are not only blowing into the aggressor’s pipe, but also causing damage to their own energy companies
that supply electricity commercially.
Kyiv has also said it is considering emergency energy measures based on Ukraine’s agreement with the European Union. The European Commission has called an emergency meeting of the Oil Coordination Group on the 25th of February to discuss the increasingly heated dispute over the Druzhba oil pipeline. The 4,000-kilometer-long pipeline runs from eastern Russia to central Europe and is a major source of oil for both Hungary and Slovakia, both of which currently enjoy exemptions from EU sanctions on Russian oil imports.
The pipeline and Russian oil have become a major source of contention, with Bratislava and Budapest accusing Kyiv of exerting political pressure by deliberately failing to repair the pipeline. The issue is particularly painful for Orbán, whose party is trailing in the polls and an election in April could end his 16-year rule.
On the 22nd of February, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó increased the pressure, vowing to block the latest EU sanctions against Russia, which are scheduled to be adopted on the 23rd of February. Budapest also threatened to block a 90 billion euros loan to Ukraine.
Kyiv has said it is working continuously to restore the pipeline.
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