Hungary has suspended diesel fuel deliveries to Ukraine with immediate effect and will not resume shipments until crude oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline is restored, said Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The suspension will remain in place until Ukraine restarts crude oil deliveries to Hungary through the pipeline, Szijjarto told a press conference following a government meeting.
According to the minister, crude oil transit was halted on 27 January.
Hungary cannot be expected to guarantee another country's energy security while its own supply is put at risk, said Szijjarto.
He noted that energy cooperation must be based on respect, not pressure.
On the same day, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that the Bratislava-based Slovnaft refinery is halting its diesel exports to Ukraine, and all products will now be reserved for the domestic market.
Fico also warned that Slovakia would cut off power supplies to Ukraine if Kyiv continues to sabotage the pipeline.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had earlier said that the Druzhba pipeline was no longer carrying Russian oil to Europe because of a Russian attack. This meant a halt to oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia, which haven't been resumed yet.
However, Hungary accused Ukraine of cutting off power to that part of the pipeline. Fico likewise accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying the pipeline's restart in an attempt to pressure Hungary into dropping its objections to Ukraine's European Union accession.
The two countries have asked Croatia to permit Russian oil brought in by sea to transit across Croatian territory.
The Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian oil through Ukraine to Central Europe, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, has faced repeated disruptions since last year because of damage to energy infrastructure amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
On Wednesday, the Slovak government declared a state of emergency in relation to oil supplies, the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) reported.
The country will release up to 250,000 tons of oil from national reserves for the Slovnaft refinery, according to a government decision in response to the interruption of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.
Iran's guards have said the important Strait is closed and anyone passing through will face "harsh measures". U.S. President ...
Two months after Indian negotiators worked in January to secure relie...
Iran’Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has rejected an offer of negotiations from the U.S. President, Donald Trump, amid the ong...
Former rapper turned politician Balendra Shah, was sworn in as Nepal’s prime minister on Friday, becoming the youngest leader in decades and ...
The United Arab Emirates has told the U.S. and other Western allies that it is willing to participate in a multinational maritime taskforce aimed a...
Hungary will gradually halt gas supplies to Ukraine until oil deliveries resume via the Druzhba pipeline, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Wednesday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has refused to lift his opposition to a €90 billion ($104 billion) European Union loan to help Ukraine keep up its fight against Russia’s invasion, following a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday (19 March).
Ukraine has accused Hungary of taking seven employees of a state-owned bank hostage in Budapest.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday (26 February) accused Ukraine of threatening Europe’s energy security by halting oil flows through the Druzhba oil pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia.
Israel said it had killed Alireza Tangsiri, the Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Navy, on Thursday, as confict in the Middle East continued.
Iran has rejected a U.S. proposal to end the war, insisting any ceasefire will occur only on its own terms and timeline, according to a senior political-security official speaking to state-run Press TV on Wednesday.
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN), said on Wednesday that the U.S. had “clearly made a mistake” in launching strikes on Iran, arguing Washington misjudged the resilience of the Iranian regime.
Iran's guards have said the important Strait is closed and anyone passing through will face "harsh measures". U.S. President Donald Trump has extended his timeline on striking against Iran's energy sites, as Tehran says diplomacy is ongoing - latest on Middle East conflict.
Northern European countries must significantly boost military drone production to help Ukraine defeat Russia, Latvia’s Prime Minister has said, warning that victory would be “impossible” without greater support.
Two months after Indian negotiators worked in January to secure relief from punitive U.S. tariffs on the country’s exports and New Delhi moved to cut back its purchases of Russian crude oil, India and Russia are stepping up their energy ties once again, according to Reuters.
U.S. paper currency will bear President Donald Trump's signature starting this summer, the first time a sitting president has signed American money, the Treasury Department said on Thursday. The change comes as the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary.
Mexico's navy said it had activated a search-and-rescue operation in the Caribbean to locate two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba after the vessels failed to arrive in Havana.
A powerful tropical cyclone in Western Australia has disrupted production at the country’s two biggest liquefied natural gas plants run by Chevron and Woodside, exacerbating a global supply crunch caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
France has rejected claims that South Africa was dropped from the guest list for this year’s G7 summit under pressure from United States, insisting the decision to invite Kenya was its own.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment