Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he will to cut off his country's emergency electricity supply to Ukraine unless Kyiv resumes pumping Russian oil to Slovakia.
Slovakia's prime minister Robert Fico has threatened to withdraw Ukraine's emergency electricity supply unless Russia's oil supply is restored to his country by Monday.
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On a post on social media platform X on Saturday, Fico said that "if the West does not mind that the Nord Stream gas pipeline was blown up, Slovakia cannot accept Slovak-Ukrainian relations as a one-way ticket benefiting only Ukraine."
The pipeline has been cut off for almost a month now. Kyiv says it was damaged by a Russian drone strike.
"The Ukrainian president refuses to understand our peace-oriented approach and, because we do not support the war, he is behaving maliciously toward Slovakia," read Fico's post.
The threat comes just a day after Hungary said it will block a €90 billion emergency loan for Ukraine over the damaged pipeline. Both Slovakia and Hungary rely heavily on Russian oil and have close relation with Moscow. Fico also said his country will be rejecting the loan.
In a video posted on social media Friday evening, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Ukraine of “blackmailing” Hungary by failing to restart oil shipments.
Slovakia has become a key European supplier of electricity to Ukraine, filling the gap after Russian attacks severely damaged the country’s power grid.