Ukraine cannot stop the transit of Russian oil to the EU, there will be consequences – Shmyhal

If Ukraine stops the transit of Russian oil through the "Druzhba" pipeline, it will be a violation of the Energy Charter Treaty and the Association Agreement with the European Union. This could lead to its punishment. Therefore, the country cannot stop pumping oil to Russia.

This was announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. He noted that, in particular, stopping transit could be grounds for:

• Bringing the country to justice for stopping uninterrupted oil supplies to several European countries. In particular, to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.
• Imposing financial conditions after international arbitration.

"Oil transit through the territory of Ukraine is carried out following the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty and the Association Agreement with the EU on freedom of transit. It also meets the conditions of the sixth package of EU sanctions," the Prime Minister said.

Earlier, Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas through its territory. This was done because the contract between Russian "Gazprom" and "Naftogaz," signed before the start of the great war, had expired.

According to Reuters, for Ukraine, the termination of transit means the loss of about $800 million in annual income from transit fees. Russia, for its part, will lose about $5 billion from gas sales to European consumers.

At the same time, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto threatened to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union because of the transit shutdown. The Slovak political party Hlas made the same threats.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Turkey may replace Russia as a gas supplier to Europe. They believe that they can handle it, because they already supply natural gas to several European countries, and they also have a fairly developed infrastructure.

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