The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied Hungary's claims that it has refused to negotiate regarding the Druzhba pipeline

Georgiy Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dismissed as baseless the accusations made by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regarding Kyiv’s alleged refusal to participate in trilateral consultations on the restart of the Druzhba oil pipeline. 

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry emphasized that it is impossible to refuse a meeting that was not even planned and was imposed by Budapest at the last minute as a fait accompli, writes EP. Tykhyi noted that such manipulative tactics have already become typical for the Hungarian side, which independently creates pretexts for accusations against Ukraine.

Official Kyiv emphasized that partners receive all necessary information regarding the state of the infrastructure in full. Specifically, on March 14, Naftogaz held an extended briefing for diplomats from 31 countries, including the Hungarian ambassador. During the event, the current state of the Druzhba oil pipeline was presented in detail, refuting Budapest’s allegations of the Ukrainian side’s lack of transparency on energy issues.

While Russia attempts to use energy blackmail as a tool to influence Europe, Ukraine continues to maintain transparent communication with its international partners. The dispute over the oil pipeline arose against the backdrop of strained relations with Viktor Orbán’s government, which has repeatedly criticized support for Ukraine. Despite Szijjártó’s claims of an energy shortage, the Ukrainian side assures that the technical condition of the facilities and the terms of cooperation have been communicated to all interested parties without exception.

As a reminder, Orbán claimed that Ukrainians are threatening his family and children.

Orbán and Magyar also held mass rallies in Budapest ahead of the elections.