Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is again threatening to veto European Union sanctions against Russia in six months, when they are due to be extended. He says his country will block the sanctions if Ukraine does not resume Russian gas transit by then.
Orban made this statement on state radio, Bloomberg reports.
According to him, this week the executive branch of the European Union guaranteed that the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine would be restored. That is why the Hungarian government allowed the EU to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months.
“If the promise is broken, we will not only propose to end the sanctions, but we will end them,” said the Hungarian Prime Minister.
What preceded
Ukraine has stopped the transit of Russian gas, which several EU countries continued to receive, since January 1, 2025. Russia stated that it was ready to continue supplying gas through Ukraine, but due to the war, Ukraine refused to participate in negotiations with Russia on gas exports through its territories.
EU countries are starting to look for alternative sources of energy, one of which is Azerbaijan. Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is ready to resume gas transit to Europe, but not from Russia, but from Azerbaijan.
Hungary receives gas via the “TurkStream” gas pipeline and is not dependent on the Ukrainian route, but the countryʼs Prime Minister Viktor Orban says that the suspension of Russian gas transit has increased fuel prices in the country.
This is not the first time that Viktor Orban has threatened to veto EU sanctions against Russia. The last time the bloc was able to reach an agreement on sanctions and extended them on January 27. Previously, Hungary said that this could not happen unless Ukraine resumed the transit of Russian gas and provided guarantees regarding oil supplies.
Politico wrote that the country did not block the sanctions in exchange for the EU issuing a statement that would take into account Budapestʼs concerns about "energy security" amid the suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine.
Bloomberg noted that in the statement, the EU will reaffirm its commitment to helping Ukraine rebuild and stabilize its infrastructure, as well as resolve the issue of gas and oil supplies.
- The FT reported that European officials are debating whether to resume sales of Russian pipeline gas to the EU. Supporters of the idea argue that it would reduce high energy prices in Europe, encourage Russia to come to the negotiating table and give both sides an excuse to implement and maintain a ceasefire. The initiative has been endorsed by Germany and Hungary, with support from other capitals.
- But the idea of resuming the purchase of Russian gas has already provoked a negative reaction among Ukraineʼs closest allies in the EU in previous discussions — it angered them.
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