A row between Kiev and Budapest over a pipeline carrying Russian oil appeared to deepen on Wednesday when Hungary said it had sent a delegation for talks with Ukraine, which denied the group had any official status.
Hungary and neighboring Slovakia accuse Kiev of deliberately delaying the reopening of the Druzhba pipeline that pumps Russian oil to the two landlocked states. Ukraine says the pipeline was damaged by Russian attacks in January.
Hungarian Energy Minister Gabor Czepek said the delegation will aim to hold talks on reopening Druzhba.
The delegation, including representatives from Slovakia, will “engage in substantive dialogue,” Czepek said.
The delegation had “the task of carrying out a fact-finding mission regarding the gas pipeline” to assess its condition and “create the necessary conditions for its reactivation”, he said.
Kiev said it was aware that a group of Hungarians had crossed the border, but stressed that it had no plans for talks with officials.
“It’s a private trip. We didn’t invite them,” Ukrainian presidential official Sergiy Kyslytsya said during a meeting attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and journalists, including AFP reporters.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy told reporters that “the group does not have any official status or any official meetings planned, so it is clearly incorrect to call them a delegation.”
Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said he informed Ukraine of the visit in advance through an “official diplomatic note”, rejecting Ukraine’s version of events.
Zelenskyy said last week that it could take four to six weeks to make the pipeline operational again.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has asked the European Union to suspend sanctions on Russian oil and gas to counter rising prices since the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
The nationalist leader has stepped up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of April 12 parliamentary elections.
Relations hit a new low after Hungary arrested seven employees of Ukraine’s state bank and seized $80 million in cash and nine gold bars they were transporting from Austria.
(cz)
