President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to threaten Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán with the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on Thursday, as tensions over Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline approach boiling point.
The pipeline has been out of action since Jan. 27, when Kyiv says a section in Ukraine’s western Lviv region was damaged by a Russian missile attack. Budapest and Bratislava claim Kyiv is blocking Russian oil transit to their countries on purpose, with Hungary threatening to block a €90 billion EU assistance loan to Ukraine until it is restored.
According to Ukrinform, Zelensky said in a press briefing that “we hope that one person in the European Union will not block €90 billion ($104 billion), or the first tranche of the €90 billion, and that Ukrainian soldiers will have weapons.”
“Otherwise, we will give the address of this person to our Armed Forces, to our guys. Let them call him and speak with him in their own language,” he continued.
Zelensky also said that “current information is that within a month to a month-and-a-half this oil pipeline can be made operational,” according to AFP.
“But that does not mean that everything destroyed will be fully restored,” he added, hinting for the first time that Kyiv may intentionally block the pipeline in the future.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó reacted with fury, posting on X that Zelensky’s comments were “beyond every limit.”
“This is the kind of ‘culture’ coming from Kyiv. And this is the man Brussels admires and the country they want to fast-track into the European Union,” he said.
“No one can threaten Hungary or its prime minister. No one can blackmail us just because we refuse to pay the price of Ukraine’s war and refuse to accept higher energy prices because of Ukraine.”
Szijjártó also accused German lawmaker Manfred Weber of being allied with the Hungarian opposition Tisza party, which poses a serious threat to Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party as the April 12 parliamentary election looms.
“No matter how much [Zelensky] threatens, and no matter how closely he cooperates with [European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen] and [Manfred Weber], the political ally of the Tisza Party in Brussels, we will not allow them to drag Hungary into the war,” he said.
The EU is pushing to inspect the Druzhba pipeline, with Zelensky acknowledging that Ukraine must repair it despite his feelings on the matter.
“I told this to European leaders and to those who called me on this issue, as well as to the EU leadership. Because this is Russian oil. There are certain principles that have no price,” Zelensky said, as per AFP.