"Satellite images show the storage reservoirs, a large reservoir that has been torn apart. The control center cannot be seen from satellite images. The pipeline is underground. How could Orbán see what is happening to the pipeline underground? I am surprised by this, but anything is possible”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the Hungarian Prime Minister released satellite images on Monday which, according to him, prove that there are no technical obstacles to restarting the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline, which was damaged in a Russian attack on Ukraine.
"Satellite images don't lie. The Druzhba oil pipeline has not been damaged. Instead of blackmailing, President Zelensky should take immediate action and restart oil deliveries to Hungary!"
It was with these words that the Hungarian Prime Minister published the photos, which he claims prove that the Druzhba oil pipeline has not been damaged. Viktor Orbán said that they had examined satellite images and, based on this and intelligence information, it had been concluded that there were no obstacles to resuming oil transport on the Druzhba pipeline. According to the dates on the images he published, one of the satellite images was taken on January 31 and the other on February 21. Orbán did not comment further on the images, nor did he write where they came from or what exactly can be seen on them.
According to a report by the Hungarian State News Agency (MTI), in response to a journalist's question, Zelensky also said that he had spoken on the phone with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico last Friday, and had invited him to visit Ukraine, in order to discuss all relevant issues. However, Fico simply wanted to know the date when deliveries on the pipeline would be resumed. "I replied: look, first of all, if you are asking whether there is a willingness on the part of the Ukrainians to do this, then I would ask: do what? To allow the transit of Russian oil? Simply to allow the transit of Russian oil so that the Russians can make money and then spend it on the war this year? No one has any intention of doing that," said the Ukrainian president, who believes that no one wishes to help Russia earn money from oil transit and use it to continue the war against Ukraine.
"If the European leaders are asking us to do this, then it must be understood what the price of this is." According to Zelensky, Ukrainian technicians repaired everything after the first strike on the oil pipeline. “There was not a single appeal to the Russians not to attack this pipeline. On the other hand, there were continued public appeals to Ukraine, as if the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia depended on it.”
Zelensky said that more fighting broke out later on, which led to several people getting wounded.
“Has anyone heard Orbán or Fico say that they are very grateful to Ukraine, or that they feel very sorry for the families and relatives of those who were injured? Not a single word was said other than again talking about how we owe them.”
According to the Ukrainian President, the main question is what the price of full restoration will be. “Do people have to die? What do they want? Are they going to block us and continue to block everything for Ukraine? And what does 'everything' mean? The €90 billion, the sanctions package, the clusters, Ukraine's path to the European Union? So there is no reciprocity whatsoever.”
Viktor Orbán responded to the Ukrainian leader's comments in a video shared on his social media page, saying that it was cynical of Zelensky to ask the Hungarian and Slovak governments to be grateful that they are repairing the Friendship oil pipeline bombed by the Russians. Orbán also said:
"He wants us to be grateful to Ukraine, even though he has shut down the oil pipeline that supplies Hungary. What impertinence!"
He added that he had written a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, informing her of the current situation. I also called on the President to enforce the agreements that oblige Ukraine to transport oil arriving via the Druzhba pipeline. Until President Zelensky returns to common sense and normality, we will not support any decisions that benefit Ukraine."
Ever since Russia carried out an attack which damaged the Druzhba oil pipeline at the end of January, the Hungarian government has claimed that Ukraine has purposely been postponing the resumption of oil deliveries, while the Ukrainian side maintains that the attack had caused serious technical damage and that repairs would take a long time.
Hungarian PM Orbán wrote an open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on this matter, to which he says he has not yet received a response, but the chargé d'affaires of the Hungarian embassy in Kyiv has been summoned twice, where he was told "all sorts of things", according to the PM. In response to the suspension of oil deliveries, Hungary has stopped supplying diesel to Ukraine, has blocked the disbursement of an EU loan to the country, and has threatened to restrict electricity exports as well. On Friday, Viktor Orbán announced the creation of a joint Slovak-Hungarian Commission of Inquiry into the Friendship Pipeline.
The article was updated to include Viktor Orbán's Tuesday response to Zelensky's comments.
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