Slovakia’s Prime Minister and chief of Smer celebration Robert Fico. PHOTO: REUTERS
BENGALURU:
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened on Saturday to chop off emergency electrical energy provides to Ukraine until Kyiv acts inside two days to renew the pumping of Russian oil to Slovakia over Ukraine’s territory, minimize off for practically a month.
Slovakia, together with Hungary, is one among simply two EU nations that also depend on important quantities of Russian oil shipped by way of the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline over Ukraine. Each even have leaders which have maintained shut relations with Moscow, bucking a largely pro-Ukrainian European consensus.
Russian oil by means of the primary Druzhba pipe has been minimize off since January 27, when Kyiv says a Russian drone strike hit pipeline gear in Western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary have grow to be more and more vocal this week in demanding it resume.
Slovakia, in the meantime, can also be a significant supply of European electrical energy for Ukraine, wanted as Russian assaults have broken its grid. Power sector specialists say Slovakia offered 18% of record-setting Ukrainian electrical energy imports final month.
“If oil provides to Slovakia will not be resumed on Monday, I’ll ask SEPS, the state-owned joint-stock firm, to cease emergency electrical energy provides to Ukraine,” Fico stated in a submit on X.
Ukraine has proposed various transit routes to ship oil to Europe whereas emergency pipeline restore works are underneath means. In a letter seen by Reuters, the Ukrainian mission to the EU proposed shipments by means of Ukraine’s oil transportation system or a maritime route, probably together with the Odesa-Brody pipeline linking Ukraine’s most important Black Sea port to the EU.
