But Podoliak quickly backtracked his statement, saying it was not the plan and that Kyiv would continue to honor oil transit contracts it had struck with European countries beyond the given date. "Ukraine has fulfilled and will fulfill its contractual obligations in full until the scheduled completion date... because it concerns our bilateral relations with European countries," Podolyak said. The head of Ukrainian oil and gas group Naftogaz, Olekskiy Chernyshov, echoed that message. "Ukraine remains a reliable partner for European countries," he said in a statement. "We will continue to fulfill our obligations under the current gas and oil transportation contracts." The said pipeline supplies Russian oils to countries including Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. However, under an EU resolution, these countries must diversify their oil supplies and end transit through Ukraine. The initial claim to halt the supplies could have applied to NatGas, which certain contracted volumes will also stop by the start of 2025. Before the Kyiv official retracted the statement, users on X, formerly Twitter, commented how Ukraine may have been trying to blackmail its neighboring countries. "These clowns think they can blackmail the world. How has that been working out for Country 404? Country 404 is a shell of itself. In a few more months the NAZI Regime will abandon 404. 404 will go down in history as the country that exposed NATO for it is," the Legend replied to the post sharing the news. Another one sees the move as a strategy. "Ukraine can't pay their debt so they cut revenue received from Russia's transit fees," handle Lawyer for Laws said but according to him, there is nothing to worry about because the "U.S. will keep funding its government budget." It continued tweeting: "Is Zelensky retaliating against Hungary and Slovakia because Hungary and Slovakia remain opposed to sending arms to Ukraine instead of the proposed peace negotiations?" Czech energy security czar Vaclav Bartuska said that this is not the first time Kyiv announced such a measure. "This time maybe they mean it seriously, we shall see," he added, "For the Czech Republic, it is not a problem." Hungary, which only imports oil via the Adriatic pipeline from Croatia apart from the Druzhba line, may face oil supply challenges if the halt pushes through. Zsolt Hernadi, CEO of Hungary's state oil company, has previously warned about the risks in case Russian oil imports are cut off due to its conflict with Ukraine as relying only on Croatia for oil supply is prone to potential manipulation of the said country and of course, economically damaging. For A Conscious Experience (FACE) founder and geopolitical strategist Velina Tchakarova tweeted that Kyiv's initial decision to close the said pipeline indicates "more geopolitical risk premium for Europe was added ahead of the third winter on both fronts, oil and gas. The European Union still remains the largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels since the beginning of the Russian war against Ukraine, followed by China and India."BREAKING:
Ukrainian President's Office announces cessation of oil supplies through "Druzhba" pipeline from Russia, impacting Slovakia, Czechia, and Hungary. Ukrainian gas transit from Russia to stop in January 2025. pic.twitter.com/KxVVEODfPS — GAMZIRI24 (@GAMZIRI24) August 30, 2024
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