Hungary urges Ukraine to immediately reopen Druzhba oil pipeline

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to immediately restore crude oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, accusing Ukraine of blocking off a critical source of Hungary’s energy supply.

In an open letter addressed to Zelensky and shared on social media, Orban accused Ukraine of attempting to interfere in Hungary's internal affairs and trying to force the country into the Russia-Ukraine war. He stressed that Hungary has no intention of joining or financing the conflict and will not shoulder higher energy costs.

Orban also emphasized that Ukraine's recent actions are detrimental to Hungarian interests and directly jeopardize the nation's energy security.

Gergely Gulyas, Hungary's Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, announced on Thursday that the government has ordered a significant increase in security at critical energy infrastructure sites. Gulyas claimed that Ukraine is seeking to undermine and sabotage Hungary's energy systems.

The Druzhba pipeline -- which translates as the 'friendship' pipeline -- serves as a major network for transporting Russian crude oil to Central and Eastern Europe. According to Ukrainian officials, oil shipments to countries including Hungary and Slovakia were suspended on Jan 27 due to damage caused by Russian attacks.

However, Hungary and Slovakia have dismissed these claims, asserting that Ukraine has deliberately cut off the supply from Russia. Both countries have announced that they will take countermeasures against Ukraine.

It is unfair, unreasonable and unfeasible to demand China to join nuclear disarmament negotiations with Russia and the United States at the current stage, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday.

She made the statement in response to a media query on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's Thursday remarks on this issue.

"China has made its position clear on this matter on multiple occasions. As a country with a massive nuclear arsenal, the United States bears a special and primary responsibility to earnestly advance nuclear disarmament, which represents the broad consensus of the international community. China's nuclear forces are not in the same league as those of the U.S. and Russia. At the current stage, it is unfair, unreasonable, and unfeasible to demand China participate in so-called trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations among China, the U.S., and Russia," she said.