{"id":441849,"date":"2026-02-23T21:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/441849\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T21:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:38:08","slug":"political-sabotage-eu-leaders-accuse-hungary-of-undermining-support-for-ukraine-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/441849\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Political sabotage\u2019: EU leaders accuse Hungary of undermining support for Ukraine | Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

European leaders have accused Hungary<\/a> of sabotaging support for Ukraine on the eve of the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin\u2019s full-scale invasion, after a defiant Budapest blocked fresh economic measures against Moscow.<\/p>\n

Germany, France and other EU states failed to persuade Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s government on Monday to approve the latest EU sanctions package and a loan meant to help Kyiv meet its military and financial needs. Poland\u2019s prime minister, Donald Tusk, described Hungary\u2019s actions as \u201cpolitical sabotage\u201d.<\/p>\n

The row threatens to overshadow a carefully choreographed display of solidarity between Ukraine\u2019s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a>, and his key European partners. Several EU leaders are expected to visit Kyiv on Tuesday, including the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.<\/p>\n

The anniversary follows a brutal and freezing winter in which Russia has systematically dismantled Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure with drone and ballistic missile attacks, leaving millions without power. Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv have been badly affected.<\/p>\n

Despite worsening conditions for civilians, the mood in the capital is surprisingly upbeat. In interviews this week Zelenskyy insisted Ukraine was \u201cdefinitely not losing\u201d. Since late January his armed forces have recaptured 400 sq km in the south of the country.<\/p>\n

A further round of peace talks are expected to take place in Geneva later this week, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Zelenskyy\u2019s office, indicated. Budanov admitted it was no secret the negotiations with Russia<\/a>, brokered by the US, \u201caren\u2019t going smoothly\u201d. \u201cWe are clearly moving forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So far, the Kremlin has refused to modify its original maximalist demands. It wants Ukraine to hand over the entire Donbas region, including areas Russia does not control. Zelenskyy has ruled this out, despite coming under pressure from Donald Trump\u2019s envoys to agree.<\/p>\n

Pro-Ukraine protesters at a rally in Brussels on Sunday. Photograph: Thierry Monasse\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Speaking to the BBC<\/a>, Zelenskyy said giving up Donetsk oblast would mean \u201cabandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there\u201d. He suggested Putin had \u201calready started world war three\u201d, adding: \u201cThe question is how much territory he [Putin] will be able to seize and how to stop him.\u201d<\/p>\n

European countries have stepped up assistance to Ukraine after the White House last year ended all direct military aid. But their efforts have been sabotaged by Hungary and Slovakia, close US allies and the most Moscow-friendly members of the EU. Both depend heavily on Russian oil imports.<\/p>\n

Budapest says it will block further sanctions against Russia<\/a> until Ukraine resumes the delivery of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. On Monday, Slovakia\u2019s prime minister Robert Fico said he was cutting emergency assistance to Ukraine because of the halt in oil deliveries.<\/p>\n

Ukraine says the Kremlin is responsible for the interruption. It claims Russian bombs knocked out the pipeline last month. On Monday, Ukrainian long-range drones damaged an oil pumping station in Russia\u2019s Tatarstan region, which is part of the Druzhba network.<\/p>\n

Arriving for a meeting in Brussels, Hungary\u2019s foreign minister, P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3, complained that Ukraine was behaving in \u201ca very hostile manner\u201d towards his country. \u201cPlease ask Ukrainians why they have stopped the oil deliveries to Hungary,\u201d he said, accusing the European Commission of siding with Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Hungary\u2019s foreign minister, P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3, speaks to the media in Brussels on Monday. Photograph: Yves Herman\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Poland\u2019s foreign minister, Rados\u0142aw Sikorski, hit out at Hungary\u2019s decision to block a \u20ac90bn (\u00a379bn) loan to Ukraine. It was \u201cshocking\u201d, he suggested, given the fact that Budapest was itself invaded in the 20th century by Soviet troops. He said Orb\u00e1n\u2019s anti-Ukrainian rhetoric was aimed at a domestic audience, before elections in March.<\/p>\n

Sikorski added: \u201cI would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine. Instead the ruling party has managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression, and \u2026 now is trying to exploit that in the general election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other senior European figures paid tribute to Ukraine\u2019s resilience. Speaking at a pro-Kyiv event in Berlin, Germany\u2019s chancellor, Friedrich Merz<\/a>, said Tuesday\u2019s anniversary marked \u201cfour monstrous years of war\u201d. \u201cI appeal again to our European partners \u2013 do not let up in your support, in our common support, for Ukraine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Merz added: \u201cWe are standing at a crossroads that could decide on the wellbeing of our whole continent. No one can say today whether the weapons will fall silent in Ukraine in six weeks, in six months or even later. But we are working for them to fall silent as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The French president, Emmanuel Macron<\/a>, described his country\u2019s commitment to Ukraine as \u201cunwavering\u201d during a meeting with Finland\u2019s leader, Alexander Stubb, another significant Ukraine booster. Putin \u201cis not winning the war\u201d but is not ready to make peace either, Stubb said in Paris.<\/p>\n

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine\u2019s ambassador to the UK and the man considered to be the best-placed challenger to Zelenskyy in a future presidential election, sought to downplay any immediate interest in the country\u2019s top job \u2013 though he did not rule out running after the end of the war.<\/p>\n

Following a speech in London, Zaluzhnyi said suggestions that he wanted to pursue the presidency amounted to \u201cpub talk\u201d \u2013 and said he did not have \u201cthe slightest chance to think about what happens after the war\u201d. Only after the end of martial law in Ukraine could there be \u201cdiscussion about my personal future\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

In a report on Monday, the World Bank estimated Ukraine needs $588bn (\u00a3435bn) to rebuild from the destruction caused by Russia\u2019s all-out 2022 attack. The figure is 12% higher than last year. The frontline Donetsk and Kharkiv regions would require the most investment, while Kyiv would need $15bn to recover, it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"European leaders have accused Hungary of sabotaging support for Ukraine on the eve of the fourth anniversary of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-441849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}