After Hungary and Slovakia threatened to “turn off the lights”, Ukraine fought back. “The ultimatums should be sent to the Kremlin”
People queue to receive free hot food provided by veterans of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a residential neighborhood in Kiev after repeated Russian airstrikes on the energy sector left the population without electricity, heat and water in the worst winter in decades, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP/Profimedia
Ukraine's foreign ministry on Saturday condemned what it described as “ultimatums and blackmail” by the governments of Hungary and Slovakia after they threatened to cut off electricity supplies to the Moscow-invaded country if Kiev did not resume Russian oil flows, Reuters reports.
Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia have been disrupted since January 27, when Kiev said a Russian drone struck pipeline equipment in western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary say Ukraine is to blame for the prolonged blackout.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday that he would cut emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine within two days if Kiev did not resume the transit of Russian oil to Slovakia through Ukrainian territory. And Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made a similar threat a few days before.
The issue has become one of the fiercest disputes between Ukraine and the two neighboring countries, members of the EU and NATO, whose leaders have bucked the consensus in Europe to cultivate cordial relations with Moscow.
Slovakia and Hungary are the only two EU countries that still depend on significant quantities of Russian oil transported through the Soviet-era Drujba pipeline that runs through Ukraine.
“Ukraine rejects and condemns the ultimatums and blackmail of the governments of Hungary and the Slovak Republic regarding energy supplies between our countries,” Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“Ultimatums should be sent to the Kremlin, and certainly not to Kiev,” the message continued.
What role do Hungary and Slovakia play for Ukraine?
Together, Hungary and Slovakia provide about half of Europe's emergency electricity exports to Ukraine, which Kiev has increasingly relied on as Russian attacks have damaged its power grid.
“If the oil supply to Slovakia is not resumed on Monday, I will ask SEPS, the state-owned joint-stock company, to stop the supply of emergency electricity to Ukraine,” Fico said in a post on X.
Kiev said such actions are “provocative, irresponsible and threaten the energy security of the entire region.”
Throughout the nearly four-year war, Ukraine has allowed its territory to be used for Russian energy exports to Europe, which have been drastically reduced but not stopped.
Ukraine has proposed alternative transit routes for transporting oil to Europe while emergency pipeline repair work is underway.
In a letter seen by Reuters, the Ukrainian mission to the EU proposed shipments through Ukraine's oil transport system or a sea route, potentially including the Odesa-Brody pipeline linking Ukraine's main Black Sea port to the EU.
Since October last year, Russia has stepped up its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine's energy system, disrupting electricity and heat supplies, while millions of Ukrainians have suffered blackouts in sub-zero temperatures outside.
