Slovakia may halt electricity supplies to Ukraine as soon as February 23 if Kyiv does not restore oil shipments to the country, Prime Minister Robert Fico warned in a post on X. The dispute centers on oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline, which were interrupted on January 27.
“If oil supplies to Slovakia are not resumed on Monday, I will ask SEPS, the state-owned joint-stock company, to stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine. In January 2026 alone, these emergency supplies, needed to stabilize the Ukrainian energy grid, were required twice as much as during the entire year of 2025,” Fico wrote.
The Slovak prime minister also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of “unacceptable behavior” toward Slovakia. “First, he halted gas flows to Slovakia, causing us damages of €500 million per year. Now he has stopped oil flows, causing us further losses and logistical difficulties,” Fico said.
On February 18, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the country is suspending diesel fuel supplies to Ukraine until “oil transit to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline is restored.” He said Zelensky decided not to resume oil transit “for political reasons, knowingly putting Hungary’s energy supply at risk.” At the same time, Szijjarto added, Budapest plays an important role in ensuring Ukraine’s energy security, noting that most of Ukraine’s imports of gas, electricity and diesel come from or via Hungary.
On February 12, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said flows through Druzhba ceased after January 27 due to a Russian airstrike on a section of the pipeline running through Ukrainian territory.
Amid the halt, Hungarian oil and gas company MOL on February 16 asked the country’s energy ministry to release about 250,000 tons of oil from strategic reserves. And on February 18, Slovakia’s government declared an “emergency situation in the oil sector.” Authorities allocated 250,000 tons of oil to Slovnaft—the country’s largest refinery, majority-owned by MOL—and the plant announced it would stop diesel exports abroad, including to Ukraine, to cover domestic needs.
On February 20, Ukrainian outlet European Pravda reported that Kyiv proposed the European Commission use alternative oil transit infrastructure in Ukraine to supply Hungary and Slovakia. “In particular, such logistics could be organized either through Ukraine’s pipeline system, or by sea with subsequent transshipment at seaports and transportation via the Odessa–Brody pipeline further into European Union member states,” the outlet quoted from a letter sent to the Commission.
