Orban Amps Up Druzhba Oil Standoff After Kyiv Accepts EU Mission

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he’ll continue to block key European Union aid to Ukraine until flows of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline are fully restored, despite President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s decision to allow EU experts into his country to help with repairs.

“If Zelenskiy wants to get his money from Brussels, he needs to open the Druzhba pipeline,” Orban said in a video on social media. He again accused Kyiv of deliberately blocking cheap Russian crude to influence Hungary’s election on April 12.