Slovakia and Hungary vexed after Russian oil flows by way of Ukraine halted by alleged Russian drone strike final month.
Revealed On 21 Feb 2026
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has issued Ukraine a two-day deadline to renew the pumping of Russian oil by way of its territory, threatening to chop off electrical energy to the war-torn nation if this demand will not be met.
Fico issued his ultimatum to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday, warning on X that he would ask state-owned firm SEPS to halt emergency provides of electrical energy if flows of Russian crude by way of the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline crossing Ukraine aren’t resumed by Monday.
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Slovakia and neighbouring Hungary, which have each remained depending on Russian oil because the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine nearly 4 years in the past, have turn into more and more vocal in demanding Kyiv resume deliveries by way of the pipeline, which was shut down after what Ukraine stated was a Russian drone strike hit infrastructure in late January.
The Slovak chief accused Zelenskyy of performing “maliciously” in direction of his nation, alluding to Ukraine’s earlier halting of Russian gasoline provides after a five-year-old transit settlement expired on January 1, 2025, which he claimed is costing Slovakia “damages of 500 million [euros; about $589m] per 12 months”.
Describing Zelenskyy’s actions as “unacceptable behaviour”, he stated that his refusal to “contain the Slovak Republic within the newest 90 billion euros ($105bn) army mortgage for Ukraine” had been “completely right”.
Slovakia is a significant supply of European electrical energy for Ukraine, wanted as Russian assaults have broken its grid. Vitality sector consultants say Slovakia offered 18 % of record-setting Ukrainian electrical energy imports final month.
EU mortgage in peril
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic all opposed the interest-free European Union mortgage bundle, which was agreed to by the bloc’s member states again in December to assist Ukraine meet its army and financial wants over the approaching two years.
Whereas the three nations opposed the bundle, which changed a contentious plan to make use of frozen Russian property that ran aground over authorized issues, a compromise was reached through which they didn’t block the initiative and had been promised safety from any monetary fallout.
Nonetheless, as tensions mounted over the interrupted provide of Russian oil this week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban threatened on Friday to overturn December’s deal by vetoing the EU mortgage bundle.
“So long as Ukraine blocks the Druzhba pipeline, Hungary will block the 90‑billion-euro Ukrainian battle mortgage. We is not going to be pushed round!” the Hungarian chief wrote on Fb.
Slovakia and Hungary each obtained a short lived exemption from an EU coverage prohibiting imports of Russian oil over the battle in Ukraine.
Ukraine responds
The Ukrainian Ministry of International Affairs slammed Slovakia and Hungary on Saturday for what it referred to as their “ultimatums and blackmail” over power points, saying the 2 nations are “enjoying into the arms of the aggressor [Russia]”.
The ministry stated that Ukraine had offered info on the harm that resulted from “Russian assaults” on the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia, and that restore work is underneath means.
Within the meantime, it stated, it has “additionally proposed alternative routes to resolve the difficulty of supplying non-Russian oil to those nations”.
