Hungarian foreign minister accuses Zelenskyy of lying about Budapest’s delegation in Ukraine
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of lying after Zelenskyy said he does not know what the Hungarian delegation is doing in Ukraine.
Source: European Pravda, citing Szijjártó on Facebook
Details: Szijjártó said that "the Ukrainian president is lying".
Quote: "Zelenskyy claims he did not know about the arrival of the Hungarian delegation in Ukraine because the Hungarian government did not coordinate the visit with Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But what is the reality? Yesterday we officially informed the Ukrainians that a Hungarian delegation led by Deputy Energy Minister Gábor Czepek [State Secretary at Hungary's Energy Ministry] would visit Ukraine to inspect the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline, and we also requested a meeting with Ukraine's energy minister."
More details: Szijjártó also posted a photo of a document dated 10 March referring to the relevant request from the Hungarian Embassy to Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It said the delegation would be in Kyiv on Thursday and Friday. The embassy asked the ministry to help arrange a meeting between the delegation and Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy.
Szijjártó said the Ukrainians had blocked oil supplies to Hungary at a time when maritime oil transport is facing the greatest uncertainty in history, while the only alternative to the Druzhba oil pipeline is the sea route.
Quote: "Therefore, the Ukrainian oil blockade is nothing less than a grave crime against Hungary."
Background:
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he does not know what the Hungarian delegation that arrived allegedly to inspect the Druzhba oil pipeline is doing in Ukraine.
- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry stated that a Hungarian "monitoring group" entered Ukraine on the morning of 11 March, but it has no official status and no official meetings are scheduled.
- The group of Hungarians led by Gábor Czepek, Hungary's State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, announced its intention to visit Ukraine to hold talks on restoring the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline and to inspect its condition.
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