Hungary and Ukraine ministers hold ‘frank’ talks amid Russia strains
2024.09.30 09:07
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he had had a “very frank one-on-one conversation” with his Hungarian counterpart on Monday, amid disagreements opened up by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Hungary has upset its NATO and European Union allies by keeping close economic ties with Russia, and has also refused to join other Western countries in sending arms to help its neighbour.
Kyiv for its part stopped the flow of oil from Russia’s Lukoil in June to refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, forcing Hungary’s MOL to renegotiate the supply through Belarus and Ukraine.
At a joint press conference, Sybiha thanked Budapest for supporting EU sanctions against Russia and said Kyiv was “committed to developing pragmatic and predictable good-neighbourly relations”.
But after Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest would back any initiative that would achieve peace in Ukraine, Sybiha added pointedly that he hoped Hungary would continue to support “Ukrainian initiatives” – referring to plans advanced by Kyiv that reject any Russian territorial gains.
Szijjarto said Hungary “would like Ukraine to abstain in future from those unilateral steps taken recently that posed special challenges to Hungary’s energy supply”, but had no plan to restrict gas flows or its substantial power exports to Ukraine.
He also said Hungary wanted to take part in rebuilding Ukraine.
Budapest has also clashed with Kyiv over what it says are curbs on the rights of roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine to use their native tongue.
Kyiv denies that such restrictions exist but Sybiha said both sides had “noted a positive dynamic in resolving this issue”.
