Slovak Foreign Minister: Strikes on Druzhba oil pipeline harm the interests of Ukraine itself

Strikes on the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia, which supplies oil to Slovakia, are contrary to the country's national interests and do not benefit Ukraine. This was stated by Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar in the Politika 24 program on the JOJ TV channel.

According to him, the Slovakian Slovnaft plant processes Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline into gasoline or diesel and is an "important supplier" of the latter to Ukraine. Blanar said he discussed the situation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga .

"Slovnaft accounts for 10% of monthly diesel consumption in Ukraine. He took this information into account and said that he would continue to communicate it," the Slovak prime minister said .

on August 25, Blanard is scheduled to speak with the deputy prime minister in charge of European integration. He intends to express his position on the attack on Druzhba.

"We understand that it is difficult for Ukraine, but this infrastructure is very important for us. Especially when we see that Ukraine itself is harming its own interests, risking being left without enough fuel on its territory," said the Slovak minister .

Blanard also noted that in January 2025, the EU declared the inviolability of energy infrastructure and called on all third parties, including Ukraine and Russia, to respect it.

Slovak minister emphasizes the need to end the full-scale war in Ukraine as soon as possible and start peace talks, which would stop attacks on critical infrastructure.

"This is the only way to stop mutual attacks on energy infrastructure: from Ukraine to Russia and vice versa, from Russia to Ukraine," Blanar said .

• Within a week, Ukraine attacked the Druzhba oil pumping station in Unecha, Bryansk region, twice – on August 13 and on August 21. The Nikolskoye station was also hit, , which stopped the operation of Druzhba.
• Due to the attacks, supplies to Hungary were stopped for the third time in a month.
• The foreign ministers of Hungary and Slovakia complained about Ukraine to the European Commission, and Trump told Orban that is "very angry" at Ukraine's strikes on the Druzhba pipeline.