Ukraine's decision to stop the transit of oil from the Russian concern "Lukoil" for Hungary and Slovakia is in line with Kyiv's sanctions against the company and has nothing to do with extortion, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, told Reuters, rejecting Hungary's statement, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
Last month, Kiev imposed sanctions blocking the transit of Russian crude oil through the "Druzhba" oil pipeline. This move alarmed Hungary and Slovakia, which expressed concerns about a shortage of supplies of this raw material.
Budapest and Bratislava on Monday sent a complaint to the European Commission, in which they indicated that, according to them, the association agreement concluded between Ukraine and the EU does not allow Kiev to block the transit of oil.
Gergei Guyas, adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, today accused Ukraine of blackmailing Hungary and Slovakia by stopping oil supplies.
"The situation with the suspension of the transit of Russian oil through the "Druzhba" to Hungary and Slovakia has nothing to do with blackmail from the Ukrainian point of view," Podoliak said in a written comment on the subject. "Hungary and Slovakia certainly do not take the position of real peacemakers and do not demand peace and justice, but only concessions to Russia," noted Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser.
Podolyak accused Ukraine's two neighboring countries of going "against the direction" followed by the European Union, which supports Kiev in its war with Russia. In addition, Podoliak recommended that Hungary and Slovakia appeal to the Kremlin to stop attacking Ukrainian energy and transit channels.
For months, Ukraine's energy sector has been subjected to incessant Russian airstrikes and has lost half of its production capacity. This led to massive power outages across the country, notes Reuters.