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Slovak PM Fico confirms no signs of damage to Druzhba oil pipeline

According to the Prime Minister, Ukrainian authorities are lying when they claim that the pipeline facility in Brody was damaged

BRATISLAVA, March 18. /TASS/. Satellite images confirm the lack of any damage to the Druzhba pipeline system, contrary to Kiev's claims, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said before a meeting of the European Council.

According to the Prime Minister, Ukrainian authorities are lying when they claim that the pipeline facility in Brody, the Lvov Region, was damaged.

"We are cooperating with services abroad. Satellite images indicate that only one single oil tank burned. There are absolutely no signs of damage to the pipeline system. There are no signs of bombing," the TASR news agency quotes Fico as saying.

Russian oil has not flowed through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary since January 27.

On February 18, the Slovak government declared an oil crisis in the republic and, in response, suspended electricity and diesel supplies to Ukraine. Bratislava does not rule out introducing new restrictive measures against that country if its approach to the pipeline situation does not change.

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