Hungary threatens to veto the EU’s 20-pack of Russian sanctions with the suspension of oil exports

Budapest has threatened to block a new package of European Union sanctions against Russia and halt aid efforts to Ukraine until Russian oil deliveries to Hungary resume.

EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss the bloc’s 20 sanctions against Moscow, a measure they hope will be approved in time to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday.

In a video posted on social media on Sunday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said he would block the sanctions, accusing Ukraine of deliberately blocking Russian oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline.

“We will not accept the adoption of the 20th package of sanctions, because we have made it clear that until the Ukrainians resume the export of oil to Hungary, we will not allow important decisions for them to be approved,” said Szijjártó.

Russian oil exports to Hungary and Slovakia have been disrupted since Jan. 27. after which Ukrainian officials say a Russian airstrike damaged the Druzhba pipeline, leading to an escalation of tensions between Budapest and Kyiv. The pipeline carries Russian crude through Ukrainian territory and into central Europe.

For sanctions to pass, the 27-nation bloc needs to reach a unanimous decision.

Almost all European countries have significantly reduced or completely stopped importing Russian energy since Moscow launched its war on Ukraine in Feb. 24, 2022.

Yet Hungary and Slovakia, members of the EU and NATO, have maintained and increased supplies of Russian oil and gas, and received a temporary exemption from the EU’s policy of banning Russian oil imports.

Szijjártó also said on Saturday that Hungary would block an EU loan to Ukraine of 90 billion euros ($106 billion) aimed at helping Kyiv meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.

‘Blackmail’ by Hungary and Slovakia, says Ukraine

Earlier in the week, Hungary and Slovakia announced that they would both suspend diesel shipments to Ukraine due to oil disruptions, and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico on Saturday said his country would cut emergency power to its troubled neighbor if oil supplies are not restored by Monday.

Russian missiles and drones in recent months have disrupted electricity in Ukraine, plunging people into freezing darkness during one of the country’s coldest winters.

In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said it “rejects and condemns the restrictions and abductions” carried out by Hungary and Slovakia, and that the two countries are “playing into the hands of the aggressor.”

“Such actions, in the context of large-scale and targeted Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and Moscow’s efforts to deprive Ukrainians of electricity, heating, and gas during extreme cold weather, are offensive, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region,” the ministry wrote.

Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, who maintains the closest ties to the Kremlin of any EU leader, has long argued that Russian oil is vital to his economy and that a shift to renewable energy could cause a rapid economic collapse – an argument some experts dispute.

Orbán has repeatedly threatened to derail the bloc’s efforts to punish Moscow for its aggression and has blasted efforts to get Russian energy money to help finance the war. He also opposed the EU’s efforts to provide military and financial aid to Ukraine.

Russian airstrikes hit areas of Kyiv, killing one

Russia attacked Ukraine with a number of missiles and drones, killing one person in the Kyiv region, emergency services in Ukraine said on Sunday. Eight other people, including a child, were rescued from under the rubble of the collapsed buildings, the ministry said.

This attack caused damage and fires in five districts in the Kyiv area. In the village of Putrivka in the Fastiv region, emergency services worked to save people buried under the rubble.

Russia has also attacked power infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, leading to massive fires that have been extinguished, emergency services said.

In the four years since Russia began an endless war on its neighbor, and despite renewed pressure last year on US-led peace efforts, Ukrainian citizens have endured frequent airstrikes. Russia has also stepped up attacks against the country’s power grid, leaving Ukrainian citizens without electricity and heating amid harsh winter conditions.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday that the Russian attack included 297 drones and 50 missiles of various types, of which 274 drones and 33 missiles were shot down. Of those remaining, 14 missiles and 23 drones attacked 14 locations, it said. The three arrows were unknown.

Separately, an explosion in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv killed one person and injured 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging service on Sunday. One person was arrested in connection with the incident, which is not related to the Russian airstrike in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russian air defense forces destroyed 86 Ukrainian planes overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

A security guard was injured and a fuel tank was set on fire when two Ukrainian planes crashed into an oil storage facility in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Luhansk, Moscow’s leader Leonid Pasechnik said.