Putin to host Hungary's FM to discuss Budapest-Kyiv rift over Druzhba pipeline

Russia Putin to host Hungary's FM to discuss Budapest-Kyiv rift over Druzhba pipeline March 4, 2026 12:49 pm • 3 min read by Martin Fornusek Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Moscow on March 4 to discuss Budapest's dispute with Kyiv over oil supplies, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Szijjarto — a frequent visitor to Russia despite its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — is expected to address the halt in operations on the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline supplying Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia . While Kyiv said that the pipeline has been offline since late January due to a Russian strike in western Ukraine, Budapest and Bratislava accused the Ukrainian leadership of intentionally withholding the supplies. Peskov expressed support for Hungary and Slovakia — whose governments are widely regarded as the most Kremlin-friendly in the EU — in the dispute, accusing Ukraine of "blackmail," according to state news agency TASS. Become a member – go ad‑free The minister's visit will come only a day after Putin held a phone call with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to discuss the U.S.-Iran war and Ukrainian soldiers of Hungarian ethnicity in Russian captivity. Hungary and Slovakia, both landlocked countries, were the only two EU members still receiving Russian crude via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline prior to the suspension. The route accounts for roughly 86–92% of Hungary's crude oil imports and almost the entirety of Slovakia's supply. Orban's government has deepened energy ties with Moscow throughout the war while repeatedly obstructing EU sanctions on Russia or aid to Ukraine. Governments of the two countries demanded a joint inspection of the damaged pipeline together with the EU , a request that Kyiv has yet to publicly respond to. Become a member – go ad‑free In the meantime, Hungary and Slovakia halted diesel fuel supplies to Ukraine and blocked the 20th package of EU sanction...