Overview
- Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó met Vladimir Putin in Moscow seeking assurances on energy prices as the Kremlin echoed claims that Ukraine is deliberately blocking the pipeline, and Russia handed over two prisoners with Hungarian and Ukrainian citizenship to travel to Budapest.
- The southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline remains offline after a late‑January strike near Brody, with Ukraine citing damage and ongoing security risks during repairs and reporting injuries to personnel.
- Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continues to block a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine and a new sanctions package, insisting that Ukrainian authorities admit Hungarian and Slovak inspectors and restart transit.
- EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with President Volodymyr Zelensky seeking movement on the loan and sanctions, while Brussels says Hungary and Slovakia have roughly three months of oil reserves and can draw from the Adria pipeline.
- A separate Ukrainian drone attack on the Kaleykino pump and mixing station in Russia’s Tatarstan reportedly reduced Transneft’s input by about one quarter, further constraining export flows.