Ukraine condemned “ultimatums and blackmail” by the governments of Hungary and Slovakia on Saturday, after Budapest and Bratislava threatened to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv restarts flows of Russian oil.
Shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off since Jan. 27, when Kyiv says a Russian drone strike hit pipeline equipment in western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary accuse Ukraine of slow-walking the repairs for political purposes.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday that he would cut off emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv resumes Russian oil transit to Slovakia over Ukrainian territory. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán made a similar threat days earlier.
In a statement posted on X late Saturday, Ukraine’s foreign ministry blasted the actions as “irresponsible,” saying they risked exacerbating the growing energy crisis that has followed months of Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian grids and power stations, leaving thousands of Ukrainians without heat and electricity in the depths of winter.
“Such actions, in the context of massive and targeted Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and Moscow’s attempts to deprive Ukrainians of electricity, heating, and gas during extreme cold weather, are provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“In doing so, the governments of Hungary and Slovakia are not only playing into the hands of the aggressor, but also harming their own energy companies that supply energy on a commercial basis.”
Kyiv said it is also considering activating emergency energy supply measures under Ukraine’s association agreement with the EU.
The European Commission has called an emergency meeting of the Oil Coordination Group for Wednesday to address a growing dispute over the Druzhba oil pipeline.
The 4,000-kilometer Druzhba pipeline — which runs from eastern Russia into Central Europe — is a key source of oil for both Slovakia and Hungary, both of which are exempt from EU sanctions on imports of Russian refined oil.
It has become a major flashpoint over the past week as Budapest and Bratislava accuse Kyiv of deliberately delaying the repair of the pipeline to exert political pressure. It’s a politically sensitive moment for Orbán in particular, who is trailing in the polls behind the opposition Tisza party ahead of national elections in April that threaten to spell the end of his 16-year rule.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó ramped up the pressure further on Sunday, vowing to block the EU’s latest raft of sanctions against Russia, which member countries are hoping to adopt on Monday.
Budapest has separately threatened to block a €90 billion loan to Ukraine that the country needs to keep fighting before its war chest runs dry in April.
Kyiv said over the weekend it was working round the clock to repair the damaged pipeline and that it had already offered to help restore flows to Slovakia and Hungary via alternative routes. It separately suggested to the European Commission that it supply the countries through its own transportation system or via Black Sea ports, according to a letter seen by POLITICO.
It emphasized its “continuous readiness” to supply oil to the countries within legal bounds, calling on the Commission to help with logistics. Ukrainian specialists are “assessing the technical feasibility and conditions for the prompt restoration of oil transportation via the said pipeline,” it added.