Hungary's newly elected Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, suggested that the pipeline transporting Russian oil through Ukraine should be restarted, as Brussels prepares the ground for Budapest to lift its veto on a key financial loan for Kiev.
Reacting to reports suggesting that oil supplies could be immediately restored from Ukraine in exchange for a 90 billion euro loan, currently blocked by outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, or faster progress in accession talks, Hungary downplayed both.
"What I can tell the Ukrainian president, although we haven't spoken, is that this is not a game," he said.
"If the Druzhba pipeline is capable of transporting oil, then it should be reopened as promised. We also call on Russia to supply oil to the pipeline. Without it, it cannot function."
Magyar added that his party had its own indications that this could happen within days and stressed that Hungary would not "surrender to blackmail."
"I would not advise the Ukrainian president to follow that path. Not only Hungary, but Europe as a whole would reject it. Reopening agreements that have already been resolved is not the way we operate in Europe," he said.
Previously, Orbán had hinted that shipments via Druzhba could resume on Monday, although there is no evidence that the flows have resumed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not commented publicly about the restoration of the pipeline in the coming days.
