KYIV: The Prime Minister of Ukraine has said that Kyiv’s sanctions restricting the transit of oil from Russian producer Lukoil do not pose a threat to the energy security of Slovakia.
Denys Shmyhal in a statement on Telegram messenger said lifting sanctions is not a matter for discussion and Ukraine has the European Union’s “full understanding” on the issue.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday his country would stop diesel supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv resumes oil flows from Russia’s Lukoil through its territory. Hungary and Slovakia together supply about 10 per cent of Ukraine’s diesel.
“Slovakia is our reliable partner from whom we do not expect blackmail or threats,” Shmyhal said.
“The sanctions … do not pose a threat to the energy security of Slovakia and Europe as a whole, which is why their lifting is not a subject of discussion,” he added.
Ukraine in late June placed sanctions against Lukoil, one of Russia’s largest oil firms, banning it from any activity on the territory of Ukraine and stopping its oil from passing to Hungarian and Slovak refineries.
Sanctions against Lukoil started to take effect at the end of June, but Hungary and Slovakia did not report any supply problems until mid-July. The Druzhba, or known as friendship, oil pipeline connecting Russia to Europe has remained functional through more than two years of the conflict.
The southern branch of the pipeline runs via Ukraine to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia and has been the basic source of supply for their refineries for years.
