Hungary maintained its veto yesterday on new EU sanctions on Russia and a huge loan for Ukraine amid a dispute over oil supplies, in a blow to Europe’s pro-Ukrainian consensus on the eve of the war’s fourth anniversary.
On the ground in Ukraine, Kyiv claimed a rare frontline advance, though Moscow continued its campaign of targeting Ukrainian cities, killing two people in drone strikes in the south.
The diplomatic spotlight was on Brussels, where European foreign ministers tried unsuccessfully to persuade Budapest not to punish Ukraine for delays restarting the flow of Russian oil to Hungary via a Soviet-era pipeline.
Soon after, another of Ukraine’s EU neighbours, Slovakia, said it would refuse any requests from Kyiv for emergency electricity supplies from yesterday until oil flows resume via the Druzhba pipeline.
Potentially escalating the crisis further, Ukraine said its drones struck a Russian pumping station overnight serving the pipeline. It was set up to supply Moscow’s crude through Ukraine to eastern Europe, but shipments to Slovakia and Hungary have been cut off since January 27.
“We have not reached an agreement on the 20th sanctions package,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters. “This is a setback and a message we didn’t want to send today, but the work continues.”
European Council President Antonio Costa urged Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to honour an EU deal for a 90 billion euro ($106.11bn) loan to Ukraine.
But he replied in a letter seen by Reuters that Ukraine could restart the oil flows if it wanted and: “I am not in a position to support any decision whatsoever favourable to Ukraine until they return to normality.”
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