Hungary, Slovakia suspend diesel exports to Ukraine amid pipeline dispute

Hungary and Slovakia announced a suspension of diesel exports to Ukraine on Wednesday.

Hungary has suspended diesel fuel deliveries to Ukraine with immediate effect and will not resume shipments until crude oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline is restored, said Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The suspension will remain in place until Ukraine restarts crude oil deliveries to Hungary through the pipeline, Szijjarto told a press conference following a government meeting.

According to the minister, crude oil transit was halted on Jan 27.

Hungary cannot be expected to guarantee another country's energy security while its own supply is put at risk, said Szijjarto.

He noted that energy cooperation must be based on respect, not pressure.

On the same day, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that the Bratislava-based Slovnaft refinery is halting its diesel exports to Ukraine, and all products will now be reserved for the domestic market.

Fico also warned that Slovakia would cut off power supplies to Ukraine if Kiev continues to sabotage the pipeline.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had earlier said that the Druzhba pipeline was no longer carrying Russian oil to Europe because of a Russian attack. This meant a halt to oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia, which haven't been resumed yet.

However, Hungary accused Ukraine of cutting off power to that part of the pipeline. Fico likewise accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying the pipeline's restart in an attempt to pressure Hungary into dropping its objections to Ukraine's EU accession.

The two countries have asked Croatia to permit Russian oil brought in by sea to transit across Croatian territory.

The Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian oil through Ukraine to Central Europe, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, has faced repeated disruptions since last year because of damage to energy infrastructure amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On Wednesday, the Slovak government declared a state of emergency in relation to oil supplies, the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) reported.

The country will release up to 250,000 tons of oil from national reserves for the Slovnaft refinery, according to a government decision in response to the interruption of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.

Hungary, Slovakia suspend diesel exports to Ukraine amid pipeline dispute

More than 320 million inter-regional passenger trips were expected across China on Wednesday, the 18th day of this year's 40-day Spring Festival travel rush period and the second day of the Chinese New Year, according to data released by the Ministry of Transport.

This figure marks a sharp 43.1 percent growth from the previous day, the Chinese New Year, with family reunions and tourism overlapping to fuel a surge in short-distance travel.

Nationwide, railways were expecting to handle 10.8 million passenger trips, up 78.5 percent from Tuesday.

To meet this surge, rail operators were planning to run an additional 476 passenger trains on Wednesday.

Highway traffic was projected to surpass 50 million vehicle trips, putting pressure on roads around popular tourist sites.

Around 2.48 million passenger trips on planes were also expected on Wednesday.

Routes from major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Chongqing to tourist cities such as Harbin and Kunming are the most popular, with many airlines boosting capacity on those high-demand routes.

The travel rush, also known as chunyun, which runs from Feb 2 to March 13 this year, is expected to see a record 9.5 billion inter-regional passenger trips across the country.

Over 320 mln inter-regional passenger trips expected on Day 18 of Spring Festival travel rush