Economy 26 February 2026, 4:56pm

Ukraine summons Hungary's chargé d'affaires in Kyiv - MoFA

Szijjártó reiterated the Hungarian government's claim that Ukrainians are still preventing oil deliveries to Hungary,

even though the Druzhba oil pipeline is fully suitable physically, technically, and technologically, to have deliveries resumed even today.

The foreign minister accused Kiev of blackmail before saying:

Today, our chargé d'affaires in Kyiv was summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, where they admitted that they had kept the line closed for political reasons.

The foreign minister did not reveal any further details. However, he added that, since the Ukrainians "cannot jeopardise Hungary's energy supply", the Hungarian government is continuing to demand that

they resume oil deliveries to Hungary and open the pipeline, which is physically suitable for the purpose.

As we reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that work to restore the Druzhba oil pipeline is "not progressing so quickly": the section of the pipeline connecting the Black Sea port of Odessa with Druzhba has been damaged, and the system continues to come under attack from Russia. The transfer of Russian oil has been suspended to Hungary and Slovakia since 27 January. Budapest and Bratislava believe that Kyiv is responsible for the shutdown's prolonged duration.

During her visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, which coincided with the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission,

urged the country to accelerate its reconstruction efforts.

However, according to Zelensky, the EU is also aware of the Russian attacks and the injuries sustained by Ukrainian workers during the repairs.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán published an open letter to Zelensky on Facebook and X, accusing his Ukrainian counterpart of shutting down the Friendship oil pipeline, which is key to Hungary's energy supply, and of

working for four years to force Hungary into a war between Ukraine and Russia.

Open Letter to President Volodymyr ZelenskyyMr. President,For four years, you have been unable to accept the position of the sovereign Hungarian government and the Hungarian people regarding the Russia–Ukraine war.For four years, you have been working to force Hungary into…

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) February 26, 2026

Cover photo: MTI