Budapest, March 25: Hungary will gradually cut off gas supplies to Ukraine until Russian oil deliveries resume through the Druzhba pipeline, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday.
Hungarian natural gas exports play a key role in fulfilling the energy needs of Ukraine, now in its fourth year of war with Russia.
Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia have been halted for nearly two months after what Ukrainian officials say were Russian drone attacks that damaged the pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory, and that continuous strikes risk the lives of technicians trying to repair it.
The populist leaders of Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up Russian deliveries. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that he is reluctant to allow Russian oil to continue transiting his country.
Russia downs nearly 400 Ukrainian drones
Russian air defences downed 389 incoming Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defence Ministry said Wednesday, in what was the largest reported overnight attack on Russian regions and Crimea since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine more than four years ago. The drones were stopped over 13 Russian regions as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. (Agencies)
