What was at stake in Ukraine's oil transit row with Slovakia?
A look back at the standoff over Russian oil transit that framed Ukraine's diplomacy as 2025 began, alongside a new opening with Damascus.
What was at stake on 1 January 2025, the date Ukraine had planned to suspend the transit of Russian oil to Slovakia? The answer lay in a dispute that had escalated in the final days of 2024.
On 28 December 2024, Slovakia threatened reciprocal measures against Kyiv's plan, including suspending electricity supplies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by accusing Slovakia of opening a "second energy front" against Kyiv under Moscow's orders.
Roots of the dispute
The row was part of the wider Lukoil oil transit dispute. According to background written later, it began on 24 June 2024, when Ukraine tightened sanctions on Lukoil, Russia's largest private oil firm. The measures banned Lukoil oil supplies and reassigned its contractual obligations to supply Hungary and Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline to other companies. The same account says the tightening did not affect the volume of oil transit through Ukraine. Officials in Hungary and Slovakia nonetheless warned the European Commission of a possible energy crisis and threatened to halt military aid, energy and diesel supplies to Ukraine. The Commission, after examining the situation, saw no reason for concern.
A parallel diplomatic move
Kyiv's attention was not confined to energy. On 30 December 2024, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha met Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus. The two countries re-established diplomatic relations. Syria said it hoped to form a strategic partnership with Ukraine, and Ukraine vowed to send additional food aid.
Implications
The two tracks show Ukraine handling pressure from a neighbouring EU state over energy while seeking new diplomatic ties elsewhere. Later accounts describe the transit dispute as having no legal consequences. On 1 January 2025 itself, however, the threat of electricity cuts and the rhetoric between Bratislava and Kyiv were the live concern.
