Hungary and Slovakia have temporarily suspended diesel deliveries to Ukraine. The authorities in Budapest and Bratislava announced that exports will resume once Kiev allows the transit of Russian oil through the Drujba pipeline again, reports IPN.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, has accused the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of choosing not to resume oil transit for political reasons. According to him, this decision deliberately jeopardizes Hungary’s energy supply.

Péter Szijjártó stated that a large part of Ukraine’s imports of gas, electricity, and diesel come through or from Hungary. He emphasized that one cannot expect Hungary to guarantee the energy security of another country while its own supply is endangered. According to the official, energy cooperation must be mutual and based on respect, not pressure.

In response, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gheorghii Tihii, stated that the oil transit to Hungary was halted due to the Russian attacks on the Drujba pipeline on January 27. He specified that Budapest was informed on the same day about the bombing of the pipeline and added that the accusations against Ukraine regarding the delay of deliveries are absurd.

At the same time, the Prime Minister of Bratislava, Robert Fico, announced that the Slovak company Slovnaft, a subsidiary of the Hungarian group MOL, has suspended diesel exports to Ukraine, in order to conserve reserves of petroleum products for domestic use.