Ukraine’s decision to halt the transit of crude oil from Russian company Lukoil to Hungary and Slovakia aligns with sanctions against Russia and is not an act of blackmail, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters on Friday.
Last month, Kyiv decided to block the transportation through the Druzhba pipeline, raising concerns in Budapest and Bratislava about potential shortages.
On Monday, Hungary and Slovakia lodged complaints with the European Commission, demanding the application of the association agreement, which, according to their interpretation, would not allow Ukraine to interrupt oil transit.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff called Ukraine’s actions “unfair blackmail” against Hungary and Slovakia, both of which oppose the war in Ukraine. Gergely Gulyás, quoted by Hungarian news agency MTI, stated that blocking crude oil transport seriously threatens energy supply security.
In response, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak issued a statement asserting that the suspension of Druzhba pipeline transit from Ukraine’s perspective “has nothing to do with blackmail.” He added that “Hungary and Slovakia are not particularly distinguished by their efforts to maintain peace and justice, but rather by their concessions to Russia.”
Podolyak accused the two neighboring countries of going “against the grain” of the European Union, which supports Ukraine in its war with Russia. He recommended that officials in Budapest and Bratislava ask Moscow to stop attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and transport routes.
Russia has been persistently attacking Ukraine’s energy sector with missiles and drones, resulting in the loss of half of Ukraine’s production capacity in recent months. This has caused severe power outages across the country.
