The bloc is now feeling the fallout from severing ties with Russia amid the Middle East conflict, presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said
The EU is starting to feel the costs of severing energy ties with Russia amid the Middle East conflict, according to Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian presidential envoy and head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Dmitriev criticized the bloc for shunning Russian energy under Ukraine-related sanctions, calling the moves “ideologically driven economic decisions.”
“A major shift in the EU’s position as they begin to realize how their disastrous energy decisions created enormous risks, which are now materializing due to the conflict in Iran,” he wrote.
Dmitriev was responding to a Financial Times report that even pro-Ukraine EU governments and the European Commission are now pressuring Kiev to restore the Druzhba pipeline. The Soviet-era conduit, which transported Russian oil through Ukraine to Central Europe, went offline in January. Kiev has attributed the halt to alleged damage from Russian strikes, which Moscow has denied.
The EU has stepped up pressure on Kiev, seeking to send its own inspectors to the damaged Druzhba oil pipeline, the FT reported earlier this week. Some pro-Ukrainian EU governments and the European Commission are now asking Kiev to allow a visit to prove it is making efforts to restore oil flows.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa reportedly requested access to the pipeline during a visit to Kiev in late February but were denied.
The dispute has grown more urgent as energy prices surged following US and Israeli military strikes on Iran.
The push from Brussels coincided with a letter from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to the European Commission, urging enforcement of agreements requiring Ukraine to allow Russian oil to transit the Druzhba pipeline. Hungary and Slovakia, both heavily dependent on the fuel, cited satellite intelligence showing the pipeline remains fully operational and accused Kiev of deliberately cutting supplies for political reasons.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said satellite images “clearly show” Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is “lying,” adding there is no technical reason to block the pipeline. He warned that, given the disruption to maritime oil routes amid the Iran war, closing a functioning land pipeline amounts to an attack on Hungary.
