UK exempts Druzhba pipeline as it unveils its biggest Russia sanctions package, document shows
The U.K. exempted the Druzhba oil pipeline as it rolled out its biggest sanctions package against Moscow on the Feb. 24 anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a document shows.
The pipeline, a major route supplying Russian crude through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia, has become the focus of a dispute between Kyiv and the two EU countries.
London unveiled nearly 300 new sanctions to mark the war's anniversary, aiming primarily at Russia's oil exports, a key revenue stream helping Moscow fund its all-out invasion.
The measures targeted Transneft, a Russian state-owned company that operates the Russian section of Druzhba, one of the world's largest oil pipeline networks built to supply Russian crude to European countries.
However, the U.K.'s Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation published a document on Feb. 24 listing Druzhba among "exempt projects," putting Oct. 14, 2027, as the exemption's expiration date.
The Kyiv Independent has reached out to the Office for comment.
Hungary and Slovakia, two European countries still receiving Russian crude via Druzhba and broadly seen as the most Kremlin-friendly governments in the EU, accused Kyiv of intentionally withholding supplies through the pipeline.
The pipeline has been offline since late January following a Russian strike, Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukraine said it had offered "doable solutions" to resolve the dispute, even as the row prompted Slovakia and Hungary to halt diesel exports to Ukraine and Budapest threatened to block a planned 90 billion euro ($107 billion) EU loan for Kyiv.
Western countries have sought to tighten sanctions against Russian energy to force the Kremlin into earnest peace talks. London's latest package also targeted 175 companies in the '2Rivers' oil network, a key operator of Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers, as well as 48 oil tankers and subsidiaries of state nuclear giant Rosatom.
"The U.K. has today taken decisive action to disrupt the critical financing, military equipment , and revenue streams that sustain Russia's aggression," U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
"We will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine and defend European security — Ukraine's security is our security."
