The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has summoned the Hungarian chargé d’affaires for the second time due to the dissemination of false statements by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regarding the situation with the ‘Friendship’ oil pipeline. This was reported by Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tikhiy.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Details of the Diplomatic Conflict Between Ukraine and Hungary
Georgiy Tikhiy stated that the reason for the repeated summons was that Péter Szijjártó spread ‘false theses’ and distorted the content of the conversation with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. The second meeting between the parties took place a few hours after the first. During this meeting, the Ukrainian side emphasized the unacceptability of distorting the content of the negotiations, hoping that objective information would reach Budapest.
“Since Minister Szijjártó spread false theses and completely distorted the content of the meeting with the Hungarian chargé d’affaires at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the Hungarian diplomat was summoned again to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he reported.
Tikhiy also clarified that at no meeting did the Foreign Ministry state that the supply of oil to Hungary through ‘Friendship’ was blocked for political reasons. Instead, discussions focused on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s statements regarding threats to Hungary’s energy infrastructure.
Ukraine assured that it is ready to provide assistance to Budapest in protecting critical infrastructure facilities. In particular, it was proposed to engage operational channels for information exchange and coordination between the relevant authorities of both countries if Viktor Orbán’s statements have real grounds.
Statements from Hungarian Officials and EU Reaction
Recently, Russian media disseminated a statement by Szijjártó made during a Hungarian television broadcast, claiming that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry allegedly informed the Hungarian diplomat about a ‘political’ blockage of oil transit through ‘Friendship’. Following this, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán published an open letter and video address to President Volodymyr Zelensky on social media, accusing Kyiv of blocking the oil pipeline and calling for ‘greater respect for Hungary’.
Slovakia and Hungary are also continuing to block the approval of a new sanctions package against Russia and the allocation of a multi-billion euro loan to Ukraine, demanding the resumption of Russian oil transportation through ‘Friendship’.
Ukrainian officials emphasize that the pipeline was damaged during Russian shelling at the end of January. However, Hungarian and Slovak officials deny this. On February 23, Péter Szijjártó stated that there are no physical obstacles to supply, instead focusing on political motives. According to him, Kyiv is trying to force Budapest to agree to negotiations regarding Ukraine’s EU membership.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha confirmed at the EU Council meeting on February 23 that the pipeline is damaged and called on Hungary and Slovakia to direct their demands directly to the Kremlin.
After the onset of full-scale aggression, the EU banned the purchase of Russian oil, but made an exception for Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria due to their limited infrastructure. The ‘Friendship’ pipeline facilitates the transit of Russian oil to these countries through Ukraine.
According to estimates by the Finnish Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and the Bulgarian Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), the import of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia from 2022 to 2024 has brought the Kremlin 5.4 billion euros in revenue, equivalent to the cost of 1,800 Iskander-M missiles.