Hungary and Slovakia have united their pressure on Ukraine to resume the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline over the weekend. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on Friday that Budapest will block a €90 billion loan to Kyiv unless Ukraine restarts transit, while Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico gave an ultimatum to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration to restore the flow by Monday, or Bratislava will cut electricity exports to the war-torn country.
‘Ukraine is trying to ensure that Russian energy reaches Europe only on its terms,’ Orbán wrote on X. He continued by stating that Nord Stream was destroyed because it bypassed Ukraine, adding that ‘now they are blocking the fully operational Friendship oil pipeline’. ‘This is political blackmail and a violation of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement,’ Orbán pointed out, declaring that ‘Hungary’s energy supply will not be held hostage’.
Hungary’s threat to veto the loan is a major setback for Ukraine, whose coffers will begin running low on cash from April. Kyiv will struggle to sustain its war effort without fresh funds, leaving it at a disadvantage in ongoing peace talks with Russia. The €90 billion loan is essentially the only lifeline Ukraine can cling to, as US funding has decreased significantly since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Just a day after Orbán’s announcement, Fico warned that Slovakia would take immediate retaliatory measures if oil transit is not restored, accusing Kyiv of deliberately undermining Slovak interests.
In a strongly worded statement, the Slovak PM threatened to halt emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine as early as Monday, arguing that Bratislava has already provided substantial assistance since the outbreak of the war. ‘Slovakia is a proud and sovereign country, and I am a proud and sovereign Slovak,’ Fico declared, stressing that the relationship cannot remain ‘a one-way ticket benefiting only Ukraine’.
He also blamed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for ‘malicious’ behaviour towards Slovakia, citing the suspension of both gas and oil flows as causing significant economic damage.
Backing Orbán’s efforts, Fico also said that he would not support the €90 billion loan to Ukraine.
Transit through Druzhba has been halted since 27 January, with Hungary and Slovakia stopping diesel exports to Ukraine earlier this week until Ukraine resumes transit. Despite requests from both the Hungarian and Slovak governments, the European Commission said it will not apply pressure on Ukraine to restore transit.
Kyiv reacted sharply to the coordinated pressure from Budapest and Bratislava, accusing both governments of ‘ultimatums and blackmail’ and claiming their actions were ‘provocative’ and ‘irresponsible’.
In a statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry argued that Hungary and Slovakia were ‘playing into the hands of the aggressor’ and threatening regional energy security, while insisting that ongoing Russian strikes and technical damage justified the disruption of transit.
However, the response offered little reassurance to its Central European partners, instead shifting responsibility and proposing alternative, non-Russian supply routes that fail to address the immediate needs of landlocked countries dependent on the Druzhba pipeline.
Kyiv also signalled that it may escalate the dispute at the EU level by activating the Early Warning Mechanism under the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement.
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