Slovak PM bans electricity supplies to Ukraine
Slovakia will stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine from 23 February.
Source: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Facebook
Quote: "From today, the following rule applies: if the Ukrainian side asks Slovakia for assistance in stabilising the Ukrainian power grid, it will not receive such assistance.
This is the first reciprocal step that the Slovak government has the right to take without violating any international rules or obligations.
If the Ukrainian side continues to harm Slovakia's interests in the field of strategic raw material supplies, the Slovak government will also reconsider its previous constructive positions on Ukraine's accession into the European Union and prepare further measures."
Details: The dispute concerns the restoration of oil supplies to Slovakia via a branch of the Druzhba pipeline after a Russian strike on the Brody oil hub in Ukraine's west on 27 January.
Fico claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stopped gas transit to Slovakia, "causing losses of €500 million per year".
The Slovak leader asserted that in January 2026 alone, emergency electricity sent to Ukraine to stabilise its power grid was double the total supplied throughout 2025.
Background:
- Fico had previously threatened to stop emergency electricity supplies if Ukraine did not restore oil deliveries to Slovakia.
- Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Budapest will block the EU's 20th sanctions package against Russia, claiming that Ukraine is deliberately not repairing the Druzhba oil pipeline.
- Hungary is also reportedly considering suspending electricity and natural gas exports to Ukraine unless Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline are restored.
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