"Ukraine has again attacked the oil pipeline leading to Hungary, which has resulted in the halting of oil transport to our country. Another attack on our energy security is outrageous and unacceptable," Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó warned on Monday morning.

According to the minister, Russian specialists are trying to restore the transformer station, which is essential for the operation of the pipeline, as quickly as possible, but they cannot yet say when transportation can resume.

Péter Szijjártó highlighted that Brussels and Kiev have been trying to push Hungary into the war in Ukraine for three and a half years, and the increasingly frequent Ukrainian attacks on our energy security are also aimed at this.

This immediately led to a diplomatic exchange of words between Ukraine and Hungary. Before we get to that, however, it is worth recalling that the last time a Ukrainian drone attack hit the Friendship oil pipeline in western Russia was on August 13. According to Index's sources, the current action is more aimed at today's meeting in Washington, i.e. it is a political message, not a direct threat to supply security.

The pressure is therefore more of a political nature towards the Hungarian government. In addition, not only the strategic reserves, but also the Adriatic pipeline are available. Thus, any temporary outages or disruptions in transportation are practically unnoticed by consumers, and security of supply is not significantly affected. In response to our inquiry, Mol wrote that technical restoration is in progress, after which crude oil deliveries will resume. The security of supply in the region remains guaranteed.

Let's see where the diplomatic situation is now!

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Szijjártó was the first to react to Szijjártó's statements:"Peter, it was not Ukraine, but Russia that started this war, and they are unwilling to end it. We have been telling Hungary for years that Moscow is an unreliable partner," he said on X. He then highlighted:

“Nevertheless, Hungary has made every effort to maintain its dependence on Russia. Even after the outbreak of full-scale war. From now on, it can send its complaints – and threats – to its friends in Moscow.”

However, the Hungarian Foreign Minister did not leave the matter at that and responded with another post.

Péter Szijjártó said that"the Ukrainian foreign minister jumped on me. […] He wrote to complain to the Russians." At the same time, the Hungarian minister said that his colleague had missed the facts.

• According to the Minister, the first fact is that Russia has been transporting oil to Hungary via the Friendship Pipeline for decades. “This is in Hungary’s interest.”
• And the second is that Ukraine is attacking this pipeline, and the supply of oil is regularly stopped due to Ukrainian attacks. “This is contrary to Hungary’s interest.”

Finally, he said: “I am the Foreign Minister of Hungary, for me the interests of Hungary come first!” And also that we must not forget that “the majority of Ukraine's electricity supply comes from Hungary…” In other words, he essentially repeated his threat to the Ukrainian government.