Hungary to halt gas deliveries to Ukraine – Orban

Ukraine will not receive any gas until it restores the flow of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline, the Hungarian prime minister has announced

Hungary will gradually halt natural gas deliveries to Ukraine until Kiev restores the flow of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced.

In a video posted to his Facebook page on Wednesday, Orban said that Ukraine has been blocking the operation of the Soviet-era oil pipeline for 30 days. “As long as Ukraine does not provide oil, it will not receive gas from Hungary,” he said.

Orban stated that gas that would have been sent to Ukraine will instead be stored in Hungarian facilities, adding that the move is necessary considering that Ukraine “is also attacking the southern gas pipeline that supplies Hungary,” referring to the TurkStream route that brings Russian gas to Hungary via Türkiye and the Balkans.

“We will defend Hungary’s energy security, the protected petrol price, and the reduced gas prices,” Orban declared. He said the country has so far been able to “successfully defend against Ukrainian blackmail” thanks to the protected price scheme, adding that Hungarians pay the lowest prices at gas stations in all of Europe.

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Orban’s announcement comes amid a long-running energy dispute between Budapest and Kiev after Ukraine halted oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline in late January, citing supposed damage from a Russian drone strike. 

Moscow has denied the accusations while Hungary and Slovakia, both heavily reliant on the pipeline, have similarly doubted Kiev’s justification, accusing it of deliberately blocking the flow as political blackmail.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said that satellite imagery shows the pipeline is fully operational and that Kiev’s refusal to allow a joint inspection proves the decision was political.

Budapest has retaliated by vetoing a €90 billion ($104 billion) EU loan for Ukraine, blocking a new round of sanctions against Russia, and opposing Kiev’s EU membership bid. Orban has said that Budapest will not back down until the pipeline restarts.