UPDATE - Zelenskyy invites Slovak premier to Ukraine to discuss ‘all issues’ amid oil pipeline row

​​​​​​​ADDS STATEMENT BY FICO FOLLOWING CALL, DECKS

By Kanyshai Butun and Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday invited Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to visit Kyiv to discuss “all issues" in the wake of an oil pipeline row between the two countries.

"Right now, President (Zelenskyy) is speaking with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. The President invited him to Ukraine to discuss all issues," Ukraine's Presidential Office said in a statement on US social media company X.

Fico, meanwhile, said in a statement on X following the call that he asked Zelenskyy for information on when and whether oil transits through Ukraine would resume, and informed him that the decision to halt transits is "causing us logistical difficulties and economic damage.”

He said the conversation confirmed they have differing views on the condition of the pipeline, and thathe informed Zelenskyy that he and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban are proposing the creation of an inspection group composed of experts nominated by the European Commission and EU member states to determine the state of the pipeline or its ability to continue oil transit.

"President Zelensky rejected such inspection activity, referring to a negative position of the Ukrainian intelligence services," said Fico, noting that he accepted the president's proposal for a joint meeting between the two countries on "all aspects" of bilateral cooperation.

He went on to say that he asked the Slovak government and Foreign Ministry to find a suitable date for the meeting in cooperation with Ukraine, while stating that he prefers a meeting with Zelenskyy on the territory of one of the EU member states the Ukrainian president frequently visits.

Neither Zelenskyy nor Ukraine's Presidential Office has yet to make a statement following the call.

Following his call with Orban earlier, Fico announced that they proposed to establish a joint inspection group to verify the situation regarding the Druzhba oil pipeline.

“We have information that the pipeline is functioning from a technical standpoint. However, the Ukrainian side claims the opposite and continues to postpone delivery deadlines,” he wrote on X, adding that the national interests of his country and that of Hungary "cannot be pushed aside."

Fico on Monday ordered a halt to emergency electricity deliveries to Ukraine over a dispute involving the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies crude oil to Slovakia and Hungary.

Kyiv said oil shipments through the pipeline were disrupted after a Jan. 27 attack, while Budapest and Bratislava accused Ukraine of intentionally blocking the pipeline’s restart to gain political leverage.

After shipments via the pipeline were halted, Hungary and Slovakia decided to suspend diesel fuel supplies to Ukraine in response.