By Lili Bayer and Krisztina Than
BRUSSELS, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Hungary looked set on Monday to carry out a threat to block new EU sanctions on Moscow and a huge loan for Kyiv, 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 advance at the frontline, while Russia continued its campaign of targeting Ukrainian cities, killing two people in drone strikes in the south.
The diplomatic spotlight turned to Brussels, where European ministers tried to persuade Hungary and Slovakia to back off threats to punish Ukraine for delays restarting the flow of Russian oil via a Soviet-era pipeline.
Kyiv says the Druzhba pipeline, which still carries Russian oil over Ukrainian territory to Europe, was damaged a month ago by a Russian drone strike, and it is fixing it as fast as it can. Slovakia and Hungary, which have the EU’s only two refineries that still rely on oil via Druzhba, blame Ukraine for the delay.
“It is up to Ukraine, whether it restarts shipments on the pipeline or not, it is increasingly clear that we are facing open political blackmail here,” Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament in Budapest. “The Hungarian government does not give in to any blackmail.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X that Hungary and Slovakia should not be allowed to “hold the entire EU hostage” and called on them to “engage in constructive cooperation and responsible behaviour”.
Hungary and Slovakia both have leaders who have bucked the European consensus by maintaining close relations with Moscow, but have previously stopped short of blocking EU sanctions on Russia or loans to Ukraine.
In a letter seen by Reuters, Orban told European Council chief Antonio Costa the pipeline outage was an “unprovoked act of hostility that undermines the energy security of Hungary” and vowed to block a 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) loan until it was solved. Hungary has also said it would halt the latest sanctions package on Russia.
UKRAINE CLAIMS FRONTLINE GAIN
Tuesday marks the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, which triggered Europe’s deadliest war since World War Two. Russian forces have killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and destroyed Ukrainian cities. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides have died or been wounded.
In the war’s first year, Ukraine forced back the Russian offensive at the gates of Kyiv and reclaimed swathes of occupied land. But a Ukrainian counteroffensive failed the following year, and since then Moscow has made slow but relentless gains in costly battles along a 1,200-km (750-mile) front.
In a rare announcement of a Ukrainian advance, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Monday his forces had “restored control” over 400 square km of territory along a stretch of the southern frontline.
Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the claim, and there was no immediate response from Moscow. If true, it would be the first big Ukrainian gain since December and one of the biggest in many months.
As President Donald Trump has steered the United States away from providing military and financial support for Ukraine, European countries have increasingly stepped in. But the threats from Slovakia and Hungary put that consensus in jeopardy.
Four diplomats in Brussels told Reuters that Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto received sharp criticism from EU colleagues behind closed doors in Brussels, with some ministers accusing Orban’s government of using the issue for political gain ahead of a tough election in April.
“We do not hate Ukraine… but the Ukrainian state behaves in a hostile manner towards Hungary,” Szijjarto said. “The ball is in Ukraine’s court.”
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters he “would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity” for Ukraine from Hungary, which suffered its own invasion by the Soviet Union in 1956.
“And instead, with the help of state propaganda… the ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression. And now it’s trying to exploit that in the general election. It’s quite shocking.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said EU countries were unlikely to reach agreement on a proposed new package of sanctions against Russia at Monday’s meeting, though they are expected to continue negotiating until a deal is reached.
Hungary and Slovakia have also threatened to stop emergency electricity exports to Ukraine unless oil shipments resume. Slovakia had set a Monday deadline, though its exports were continuing according to data from transmission system operator SEPS.
RUSSIA HITS ODESSA
Russia has been relentlessly targeting Ukraine’s power grid and energy system in nightly drone and missile attacks, arguing such infrastructure is a legitimate target because it helps the war effort. Kyiv, which has also struck Russian oil infrastructure, says Moscow’s aim is to break the national will by freezing Ukrainians in their homes.
Ukraine’s emergency services said two people were killed and three wounded overnight in the latest drone attacks that hit the southern Odesa region. Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said Russia had attacked port infrastructure there.
Russian state news agency RIA, citing the country’s Defence Ministry, said Moscow’s forces had carried out successful strikes on Ukrainian transport, energy and fuel infrastructure.
(Reporting by Lili Bayer, Kate Abnett, Julia Payne and Andrew Gray in Brussels, Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv, Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, Friederike Heine in Berlin, Krisztina Than in Budapest, Jason Hovet in Prague, Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw; Writing by Alan Charlish and Michael Kahn, Editing by Gareth Jones and Peter Graff)
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