Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday that Slovakia will not help Ukraine stabilize its energy grid until crude oil transit resumes through Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline.
Kyiv said on Jan. 27 that Druzhba had been damaged by a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s western Lviv region. On Feb. 18, Fico claimed – citing Slovak intelligence – that Ukrainian repairs to the pipeline had already been completed, but that Kyiv was withholding Russian oil in an attempt to “blackmail” Hungary and Slovakia, the two EU member states closest to Moscow.
In a video posted to Facebook on Monday, Fico said that “as of today, if the Ukrainian side turns to Slovakia with a request for assistance in stabilising the Ukrainian energy grid, such assistance will not be provided,” as per a translation by AFP.
“It will be lifted as soon as the transit of oil to Slovakia is restored. Otherwise, we will take further reciprocal steps” – adding that Slovakia may reconsider “its previously constructive positions on Ukraine’s EU membership.”
Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has taken a hammering since the beginning of the full-scale war, with attacks ramping up every winter when temperatures plummet. A report published earlier on Monday found that Russian strikes on energy infrastructure have caused at least $90.6 billion of damage.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has made similar comments – also stalling a round of EU sanctions against Russia initially intended to pass in time for the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Budapest has also threatened to block a €90 billion ($105 billion) EU assistance loan to Ukraine using the veto it is accorded as an EU member state.
Despite all this, Kyiv has not backed down. In the early hours of Monday morning, Ukrainian attack drones damaged an oil pumping facility critical to the Druzhba pipeline in Russia’s Tatarstan region.