The leader of the party that won the parliamentary elections in Hungary, Peter Magyar, called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to resume the transit of Russian oil immediately, as soon as the pipeline is technically operational.
He warned that Hungary would not accept “blackmail“ on the issue of energy supplies and stressed that this approach would not be tolerated by European leaders either.
Magyar indicated that Hungary was ready to lift the veto on the European loan for Ukraine in the amount of 90 billion euros, but only on condition that supplies through “Druzhba“ are restored. According to him, the flow could start as early as next week.
Zelensky promised that Ukraine would complete the repair of the sections damaged, according to his claims, by Russian attacks in late January, by the end of April 2026.
He had earlier accused EU allies of “blackmail“ to Kiev to restore transit, saying that resuming supplies of Russian crude oil would be tantamount to lifting sanctions against
Zelensky stressed that Ukraine would carry out the technical part of the repairs as agreed with the EU, but the responsibility for the supplies themselves would lie with European countries.
Supplies to Hungary and Slovakia were cut off at the end of January 2026. While Budapest and Bratislava accused Kiev of deliberately delaying repairs for political reasons, Ukraine argued that systematic Russian attacks on energy infrastructure were hindering a quick recovery.
EU ambassadors are expected to consider the final steps to unblock aid to Ukraine in light of these events on April 22.