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Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy has grown accustomed to bullying other European nation’s to achieving his war goals for support and military aid. It seems Central Europe may have had enough.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry sharply rebuked the governments of Hungary and Slovakia on Saturday, labeling their threats to halt emergency electricity supplies as “ultimatums and blackmail” amid a escalating row over the transit of Russian oil through Ukrainian territory.
The dispute centers on the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, which has been offline since January 27 following what Ukrainian officials describe as a Russian drone strike that damaged critical infrastructure in western Ukraine. Hungary and Slovakia, the only two EU member states still heavily reliant on Russian crude delivered via this route, have accused Kyiv of deliberately delaying repairs and the resumption of flows.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico issued a stark ultimatum on Saturday, stating he would direct the state-owned grid operator SEPS to cease emergency electricity exports to Ukraine unless oil transit resumes by Monday. “If oil supplies to Slovakia are not resumed on Monday, I will ask SEPS… to stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine,” Fico posted on X.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán issued a similar warning days earlier, linking the issue to broader leverage, including threats to block a proposed €90 billion EU loan package for Ukraine’s war efforts.
In a strongly worded statement, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry rejected the demands outright. “Ukraine rejects and condemns the ultimatums and blackmail by the governments of Hungary and the Slovak Republic regarding energy supplies between our countries,” the ministry declared. “Ultimatums should be sent to the Kremlin, and certainly not to Kyiv.”
The ministry described the threats as “provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region,” particularly given Russia’s intensified attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since October. These strikes have caused widespread blackouts and left millions without power or heat during harsh winter conditions.
Hungary and Slovakia together provide approximately half of the European emergency electricity imports that Ukraine has increasingly depended on to stabilize its battered grid amid the ongoing war, now marking its fourth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
President Trump has also pressured European’s to stop funding the Russian war effort by buying Russian oil and gas; however, POTUS has given exceptions to Central Europe.
Despite the pipeline damage, Ukraine has continued to facilitate Russian energy exports to Europe throughout the conflict, though volumes have been significantly reduced. To address the current impasse, Kyiv has proposed alternative transit options while repairs proceed, including rerouting via its own oil transportation system or maritime pathways potentially utilizing the Odesa-Brody pipeline, which connects Ukraine’s Black Sea port to EU networks.
The confrontation highlights deepening fissures within the EU and NATO, where Hungary and Slovakia—under the leadership of Orbán and Fico—have frequently diverged from the bloc’s broader support for Ukraine, maintaining warmer relations with Moscow, and pushing hard for and end to the war, as opposed to Western European leaders who are enabling and pushing to continue the conflict.
