BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA – FEBRUARY 15: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks to the media during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Hall of Mirrors of the Slovak Government Building on February 15, 2026 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Photo by Zuzana Gogova/Getty Images)
Zuzana Gogova | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned “ultimatums and threats” by the Hungarian and Slovak governments, which threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine unless Kiev resumed Russian oil supplies.
Shipments of Russian crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia have been suspended since January 27, when Kiev announced that a Russian drone attack had damaged pipeline equipment in western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary hold Ukraine responsible for the prolonged power outage.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Roberto Fico announced on Saturday that he would cut off emergency power supplies to Ukraine within two days unless Kiev resumed Russian oil shipments to Slovakia over Ukrainian territory. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán made a similar threat a few days ago.
The issue has become one of the most vexing disputes to date between Ukraine and its two neighbors, both members of the European Union and NATO but whose leaders are rebelling against Europe’s largely pro-Ukrainian agreement to foster warm relations with Russia.
Slovakia and Hungary are the only EU countries that still depend on large quantities of Russian crude oil, which is shipped over Ukraine via the Soviet-era Druzhva pipeline.
“Ukraine rejects and condemns the ultimatums and threats made by the governments of Hungary and the Slovak Republic regarding energy supplies between the two countries,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The ultimatum should be sent to the Kremlin, never to Kiev.”
Hungary and Slovakia hold the key to Ukraine’s electricity imports
Hungary and Slovakia provide about half of Europe’s emergency electricity exports to Ukraine, and Kiev has become increasingly reliant on electricity as Russian attacks damage its power grid.
“If oil supplies to Slovakia are not resumed on Monday, I will request the state-run company SEPS to cut off emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine,” Fico wrote in a post on X.
Kyiv said such actions were “provocative, irresponsible and threaten the energy security of the entire region.”
Throughout the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion, which marks its fourth anniversary on Tuesday, Ukraine has allowed its territory to be used for Russia’s energy exports to Europe, which have been severely curtailed but not stopped.
Ukraine is proposing an alternative shipping route to transport oil to Europe while emergency repair work is carried out on the pipeline.
In a letter seen by Reuters, Ukraine’s mission to the EU proposed transporting the oil through Ukraine’s oil transportation system or sea routes, which could include the Odesa-Brody pipeline, which would connect Ukraine’s main Black Sea ports to the EU.
Since October last year, Russia has stepped up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy systems, cutting off power and heat and leaving millions of Ukrainians without prolonged blackouts in bitterly cold winter temperatures.
