Kyiv (Ukraine), 15 March (LaPresse/AP) – Regarding the reopening of the Druzhba pipeline, which until the end of January transported Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that he is opposed to allowing Russian oil to transit through Ukraine whilst the EU imposes sanctions on its sale elsewhere. “Why, on the one hand, can we tell the United States that we oppose the lifting of sanctions, whilst on the other we force Ukraine to resume oil transit via Druzhba – and at a political cost that effectively funds anti-European policies?” Zelensky said. The United States has temporarily eased some sanctions on Russian oil shipments. Zelensky added that if the conditions imposed on Ukraine due to the dispute were to threaten arms supplies, Kyiv would have no choice but to resume oil transit, but added that he had told EU partners that this would amount to “blackmail”. (Continued)
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