Hungary: The halt to oil shipments through Ukraine was coordinated by the EU.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister stated that the EU had coordinated the halt of Russian oil transiting through Ukraine.
According to RIA Novosti, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto said that the EU is coordinating efforts to halt the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine.
"The events and negotiations of recent days have confirmed my feeling that this is a process coordinated from Brussels," Foreign Minister Szijjarto said at an event organized by Matthias Corwin College.
When the host asked for clarification on whether the diplomat believed someone in the European Union had asked Ukraine to ban shipments of Russian oil, Szijjarto replied affirmatively.
According to Szijjarto, Brussels cannot accept that Budapest, despite pressure, is not giving up and continues its policy of establishing peace.
"The EU is weak, but not so weak that it cannot influence a country like Ukraine – whose membership is being considered – if it threatens the energy supplies of two other member states."
In mid-July, Hungary announced it would stop supplying Russian Lukoil oil transiting through Ukraine via the Druzhba pipeline. A similar announcement was made in Slovakia, clarifying that the reason was the inclusion of a Russian company on Ukraine's sanctions list.
In December 2022, Western countries imposed sanctions banning the supply of Russian oil to the EU by sea. The only exception concerned the Druzhba pipeline, as otherwise, some landlocked countries would have found it difficult to find alternative suppliers.
The oil pipeline originates in Almetyevsk, passes through Bryansk, and then splits into two sections: the northern section (through Belarusian territory towards Poland and Germany) and the southern section (through Ukrainian territory towards Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic).
