Slovakia will not be a “hostage” to Ukraine-Russia relations, its Prime Minister Robert Fico told his Ukrainian counterpart in a call on Saturday (20 July), after Kyiv placed Russian group Lukoil on a sanctions list, leading to a halt in deliveries.

Slovakia and Hungary said this week they had stopped receiving oil from key supplier Lukoil after Ukraine imposed a ban last month on the transit of resources from the Russian energy company 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 on Saturday that Fico spoke by…