Putin suggests EU-state response to Ukrainian attacks on energy flow

Slovakia could cut energy supplies in retaliation for Kiev’s disruption of oil deliveries, the Russian president has said

Bratislava could retaliate against Ukrainian attacks on its oil deliveries by cutting off energy supplies to the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday.

Slovakia and Hungary, which rely on Russian oil shipments through the Druzhba (“Friendship”) pipeline, have accused Kiev of deliberately disrupting their imports with military strikes. Putin compared the situation to Moscow’s own experience when Ukrainian forces struck Russian energy infrastructure.

“We had maintained restraint for a long time as Ukrainian troops struck our energy sites. Eventually, we started retaliations. And our retaliation now is, shall we say, serious,” Putin said.

The Russian leader noted that Slovakia and Hungary have leverage of their own since Ukraine depends on energy imports from its eastern European neighbors.

“Cut off their supplies of gas via reverse flow. Cut off electricity supply. And they will realize at once that there are limits to their behavior that violate other parties’ interests,” Putin suggested.

Fico said he intends to pressure Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky over the issue during a meeting scheduled for Friday and expressed opposition to Brussels’ goal of fully cutting off imports of Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027.

“We will be voting against such decisions,” he said. “I am certain that things will change before January 1, 2028, and that the RePowerEU initiative would not go forward, since it would cause us much damage.”

Zelensky recently used a pun when commenting on Kiev’s attacks on the pipeline. “We have always supported friendship between Ukraine and Hungary, and now the existence of Druzba depends on the Hungarian position,” he said.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto condemned the remarks as “outrageous and scandalous,” saying they made Kiev’s pressure tactics explicit beyond doubt. Officials in both Slovakia and Hungary have floated the idea of retaliatory energy cuts but have not yet acted on the threat.

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