Reuters
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Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as “ultimatums and blackmail” by the governments of Hungary and Slovakia on Saturday, after they threatened to cease electricity provides to Ukraine until Kyiv restarts flows of Russian oil.
Shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off since January 27, when Kyiv says a Russian drone strike hit pipeline tools in Western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary say Ukraine is to blame for the extended outage.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on Saturday that he would cut off emergency electricity provides to Ukraine inside two days until Kyiv resumes Russian oil transit to Slovakia over Ukraine’s territory. Hungary’s Viktor Orban made an analogous menace days earlier.
The subject has develop into one of the angriest disputes but between Ukraine and two neighbours which can be members of the EU and NATO however whose leaders have bucked the largely pro-Ukrainian consensus in Europe to domesticate heat ties with Moscow.
Slovakia and Hungary are the one two EU nations that also depend on vital quantities of Russian oil shipped through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline over Ukraine.
“Ukraine rejects and condemns the ultimatums and blackmail by the governments of Hungary and the Slovak Republic regarding energy supplies between our countries,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated in an announcement. “Ultimatums should be sent to the Kremlin, and certainly not to Kyiv.”
Between them, Hungary and Slovakia have been offering round half of European emergency electricity exports to Ukraine, which Kyiv more and more depends on as Russian assaults have broken its grid.
“If oil supplies to Slovakia are not resumed on Monday, I will ask SEPS, the state-owned joint-stock company, to stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine,” Fico stated in a put up on X.
Kyiv stated that such actions have been “provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region.”
Throughout the conflict that started with the full-scale Russian invasion whose fourth anniversary falls on Tuesday, Ukraine has allowed its territory to be used for Russian vitality exports to Europe, which have been sharply curtailed however not halted.
Ukraine has proposed various transit routes to ship oil to Europe whereas emergency pipeline restore works are beneath means. In a letter seen by Reuters, the Ukrainian mission to the EU proposed shipments by Ukraine’s oil transportation system or a maritime route, probably together with the Odesa-Brody pipeline linking Ukraine’s foremost Black Sea port to the EU.
Since October final 12 months, Russia has intensified its drone and missile assaults on the Ukrainian vitality system, knocking out electricity and warmth and plunging hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians into lengthy blackouts throughout bitterly chilly winter temperatures.