BRUSSELS, March 31. /TASS/. The European Union described Ukraine’s decision to suspend an inspection of the damaged Druzhba oil pipeline as "an enigma," Euractiv reported, citing sources.

"We don’t have a clear picture of what the Ukrainian play here is," an EU diplomat said.

Other diplomats dismissed Kiev’s attempts to block an inspection as "not smart" enough and "unclear." According to the website, an EU mission coordinated by the European Commission has been in Ukraine for several weeks already, waiting for Kiev’s permission to access Ukrainian territory to inspect the damaged pipeline. According to diplomats, "if Druzhba is deblocked, all sides win."

Ukraine suspended Russian oil transit to Slovakia and Hungary on January 27. The Slovak government declared a state of emergency over oil deliveries. On March 28, the Slovak premier threatened to block new EU sanctions on Russia unless oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline were restored.

On March 19, the European Commission sent a mission to Ukraine to inspect the oil pipeline, but experts from Hungary and Slovakia were not allowed to participate.