Hungary has said it will freeze a key EU loan to Ukraine until Russian oil exports resume

Hungary will freeze a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) European Union loan to Ukraine until Russia resumes the flow of oil through the Druzhba pipeline, Hungary’s foreign minister said.

Russian oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia have been disrupted since January 27 after Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone attack damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude through Ukrainian territory and into central Europe.

Hungary and Slovakia, which have a temporary exemption from the EU’s policy of banning Russian oil imports, have accused Ukraine – without providing evidence – of deliberately cutting off supplies.

In a video posted on social media late Friday (February 20, 2026), Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto accused Ukraine of “blackmailing” Hungary by failing to resume oil shipments.

His government is blocking a massive interest-free loan approved by the EU in December to help Kyiv meet its military and economic needs over the next two years.

“We will not give in to this blackmail. We will not support Ukraine’s war, we will not pay for it,” Mr. Szijjártó said. “As long as Ukraine blocks the resumption of oil supplies to Hungary, Hungary will block important and favorable European Union decisions for Ukraine.” Hungary’s decision to block vital funding to Ukraine comes two days after it halted diesel shipments to its neighbor until oil flows through the Druzhba resumed, and just days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Since Moscow launched its war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, almost every country in Europe has significantly reduced or completely stopped Russian energy imports. Yet Hungary – a member of the EU and NATO – has continued and increased its supply of Russian oil and gas.

Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has long argued that Russia’s fossil fuels are indispensable to its economy and that a shift to energy sourced elsewhere would cause immediate economic collapse — a claim some experts have made.

Orban, widely seen as the Kremlin’s biggest advocate in the EU, has fiercely opposed efforts to sanction the bloc for an attack on Moscow and blasted attempts to cut off Russia’s energy revenues that finance the war. His government has often threatened to veto EU efforts to help Ukraine.

Not all of the EU’s 27 countries have agreed to participate in a 90-billion-euro loan package for Ukraine. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic opposed the plan, but an agreement was reached in which they did not block the debt and promised to protect against any financial collapse.