Zelenskyy invites Fico to Ukraine for talks during telephone call

“The President invited him to Ukraine to discuss all issues,” the office said.

Prior to the call, Fico spoke with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The two leaders announced they had established a joint investigative commission to examine the state of the Druzhba oil pipeline and would urge Zelenskyy to allow the commission access to Ukraine.

Since late January 2026, oil transit via the Druzhba route through Ukrainian territory has been halted. Hungary and Slovakia received the majority of their oil supplies through Druzhba.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó claimed Ukraine was blocking the oil route “for political reasons.” Ukraine has repeatedly stated that transit stopped following Russian attacks on the pipeline.

Hungary has blocked a proposed 90 billion euro EU loan for Ukraine until Druzhba supplies to Hungary resume. Slovakia announced it would not provide Ukraine with emergency electricity supplies until the pipeline is operational again.

Ukraine informed the European Commission that its specialists are still conducting a detailed technical inspection of the damaged Druzhba equipment and assessing the technical feasibility and conditions for resuming oil transport as quickly as possible.

However, Orbán and Fico want to send their own inspectors to Ukraine to check the pipeline’s condition. The Slovak prime minister said he has information indicating the pipeline is technically functional, but the Ukrainian side “claims the opposite and constantly postpones restoration deadlines.”

According to media reports, Ukraine proposed to the EU that oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia use other parts of its oil transportation infrastructure — in particular, the Odesa-Brody pipeline — as an alternative to the Druzhba section damaged by Russian attack.