Sawt Falasteen - Ukrainian, Slovak leaders to meet over oil pipeline dispute

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban have accused Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky of using "blackmail" over the pipeline through Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine said the Druzhba pipeline was damaged in Russian air strikes on January 27. Slovakia and Hungary have since insisted that it has been repaired again. Orban has blocked an EU emergency loan to Ukraine as the dispute escalates.

Zelensky and Fico held a telephone call on the dispute, the Ukrainian leader's office said. "The president is inviting him to Ukraine to discuss all the existing issues."

Fico later said in a statement that he had "accepted this invitation", but would prefer a meeting in the European Union. He did not give a date for the visit.

The Slovak leader also said that during the call, "I had the distinct impression that Ukraine has no interest in restoring oil transit through its territory."

Slovakia and Hungary have maintained close ties with the Kremlin since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and still rely on Russian oil. Both have threatened Ukraine with reprisals over the halt in supplies.

Most recently, Zelensky has urged Orban to appeal directly with Russia's President Vladimir Putin over the strikes on the oil facilities.

Orban said on Facebook on Friday that he had set up a joint commission with Fico to "clarify the condition of the Druzhba pipeline".

"I call on President Zelensky to allow Hungarian and Slovak inspectors to enter and to restart the Druzhba oil pipeline," he added.

Fico complained of "President Zelensky's rejection of that sort of inspection", following "a negative opinion from the Ukrainian secret services".

Orban has been stalling a 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) EU loan to the war-torn country and a new round of sanctions on Russia, demanding that Kyiv re-open the pipeline first.

The European Union said this week that neither Hungary nor Slovakia run the risk of a shortage of oil despite the interruption.

In response to a question from AFP on the four-year anniversary of Russia's invasion on Tuesday, Zelensky said repair crews working on the pipeline were threatened by further Russian attacks.

Q.Bulbul--SF-PST