Moscow says Ukraine stops shipping Russian oil to three European countries

"Russian oil supplies through Ukrainian territory have been suspended since August 4," Transneft, the Russian pipeline operator, said today, adding that Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were among the countries affected. Transneft said Ukraine took the move because it had not received transit fees from Moscow.

Transneft said it paid the August transit fee to Ukrtransnafta, the Ukrainian pipeline operator, on July 22, but the money was returned on July 28 because the transaction could not be processed. Gazprombank, the bank that processed the transaction, said the money was returned because of European Union sanctions.

Russia normally supplies about 250,000 barrels of oil a day via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Transneft said oil supplies to Poland and Germany via Belarus were continuing as normal.

The receiving station of the Druzhba oil pipeline between Russia and Hungary in Szazhalombatta, Hungary on May 18. Photo:Reuters.

Since Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine, the United States and the European Union (EU) have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia, including blocking Moscow from international financial institutions.

The EU has sought to reduce its dependence on Russian energy sources and agreed to ban more than two-thirds of its oil imports from Moscow. The US has also imposed a ban on Russian oil imports to increase sanctions pressure.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has shown no signs of abating despite entering its sixth month. The negotiation process between the two countries has stalled since late March, with both Moscow and Kiev blaming each other for the deadlock in negotiations.

Ukrainian officials said on August 8 that they would only hold talks with Russia if the country suffered significant tactical losses.