Hungary is threatening to block new European Union sanctions against Russia and a massive loan package for Ukraine just ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion. The dispute centers on a damaged oil pipeline that Hungary blames Ukraine for disrupting.
Hungary appeared poised Monday to obstruct additional European Union penalties against Russia and prevent a 90-billion-euro financial package for Ukraine, while strikes in Ukraine’s Odesa region claimed two lives just before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale military assault.
With Tuesday marking four years since the invasion began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared to the BBC that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “already started” a third world war, urging global leaders to apply maximum pressure in response.
“The question is how much territory he (Putin) will be able to seize and how to stop him… Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves,” Zelenskyy stated.
Moscow has consistently rejected accusations of seeking broader confrontation with Western nations, describing its “special military operation” in Ukraine as necessary to defend against what it characterizes as Western hostility and aggression. Ukrainian officials and their Western supporters maintain Putin is pursuing territorial expansion in an imperial fashion.
American officials have attempted to facilitate negotiations between the warring nations, though meaningful progress remains out of reach. The most recent diplomatic discussions in Geneva on February 17-18 failed to produce any significant breakthrough.
Moscow demands Ukraine surrender approximately 20% of the eastern Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, a requirement Zelenskyy firmly rejected during his BBC appearance, explaining it would mean “abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there.”
The Ukrainian leader’s remarks coincided with Hungary’s pledge to obstruct the EU’s 20th sanctions package targeting Russia and the 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) Ukrainian loan due to an oil pipeline disruption that Budapest attributes to Kyiv.
European Union foreign ministers convened in Brussels following escalating tensions between Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine regarding the Druzhba pipeline outage, which threatens to undermine the bloc’s latest support efforts for Ukraine.
Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia through Druzhba ceased on January 27, when Ukrainian officials reported a Russian drone strike damaged pipeline infrastructure. Both Slovakia and Hungary hold Ukraine responsible for the extended disruption.
“We do not hate Ukraine… but the Ukrainian state behaves in a hostile manner towards Hungary,” declared Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. “The ball is in Ukraine’s court.”
In correspondence reviewed by Reuters, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban informed European Council leader Antonio Costa that the Druzhba disruption represented an “unprovoked act of hostility that undermines the energy security of Hungary,” promising to block the loan until resolution.
Orban, who has preserved friendly ties with Russia, has framed Hungary’s April 12 election as a fundamental decision between “war or peace,” claiming his political rivals seek to involve the nation in the conflict, allegations they vehemently reject.
EU foreign policy leader Kaja Kallas indicated member nations would likely fail to reach consensus on the proposed Russian sanctions package during Monday’s session, though negotiations are expected to continue until agreement is achieved.
Both Hungary and Slovakia have threatened to halt emergency electricity exports to Ukraine unless oil shipments resume, though operational data from Slovakia’s transmission operator SEPS showed power exports to Ukraine continued Monday.
German and Polish foreign ministers both pressed Hungary to reconsider its stance.
“I would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Brussels reporters, referencing the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary.
“And instead, with the help of state propaganda… the ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression. And now it’s trying to exploit that in the general election. It’s quite shocking,” Sikorski added.
The ongoing war has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties, forced over five million people to seek refuge throughout Europe, and devastated Ukrainian communities. The conflict has evolved into a prolonged battle of attrition in eastern regions, where Russian forces have achieved gradual territorial advances.
Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, announced Monday that his forces had “restored control” over 400 square kilometers along a portion of the southern front.
Russian drone strikes continued overnight, killing two civilians and wounding three others in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, according to emergency response teams.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksiy Kuleba reported that Russia targeted port facilities in the Odesa area.
Russian state media RIA, citing defense ministry sources, claimed Moscow’s military successfully struck Ukrainian transportation, energy and fuel infrastructure.