Budapest: Hungary will gradually cut off gas supplies to Ukraine until Russian oil deliveries resume through the Druzhba pipeline, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Wednesday.
Hungarian natural gas exports play a key role in fulfilling the energy needs of Ukraine, now in its fourth year of war with Russia.
Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia have been halted for nearly two months after what Ukrainian officials say were Russian drone attacks that damaged the pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory, and that continuous strikes risk the lives of technicians trying to repair it.
The populist leaders of Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up Russian deliveries. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that he is reluctant to allow Russian oil to continue transiting his country.
In a video posted on social media Wednesday, Orbán called the Russian oil stoppage “Ukrainian blackmail,” adding: “As long as Ukraine does not supply oil, it will not receive gas from Hungary.”
He added that Hungary would use the gas instead to fill its own reserves. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv and a Hungarian government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.
Ukraine imports a major portion of its gas needs through Hungary, amounting to around 45 per cent of all gas imports last year, according to Ukrainian energy consultancy EXPRO. That number dropped to 38 per cent by January.
Orbán’s announcement was the latest in a series of retaliatory measures Hungary has taken in response to interrupted Russian oil flows.
Last week, Orbán, who is widely seen as the Kremlin’s biggest advocate in the EU, blocked a 90-billion euro (USD 106 billion) EU loan to Ukraine over the interruptions and vowed to veto any further pro-Ukraine decisions
until oil flows. Agencies