Slovakia will not be a "hostage" to Ukraine-Russia relations, Prime Minister Robert Fico told his Ukrainian counterpart in a call on July 20 after Kyiv placed Russia’s LUKoil on a sanctions list. Slovakia and Hungary said this week they had stopped receiving oil from LUKoil after Ukraine imposed a ban last month on the transit of LUKoil resources via its territory. For Slovakia, that meant a loss in some supplies for its Slovnaft refinery, which is owned by Hungarian oil and gas group MOL. Slovakia's government office said that Fico spoke by telephone with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and told him Slovakia did not intend "to be a hostage of Ukrainian-Russian relations."
