BUDAPEST: Hungary has sent a fact-finding mission to Ukraine to investigate the suspension of oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, a deputy minister said on Wednesday, as Budapest pushes for a resumption of flows amid rising global prices due to the war in the Middle East.
Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia have been suspended since late January after damage that Kyiv says takes time to fix.
The issue has become the focus of a diplomatic clash between Budapest and Kyiv, with hostile rhetoric toward Ukraine taking center stage in veteran nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s campaign ahead of an election on April 12.
Last month, Hungary vetoed new European Union sanctions on Russia and also a huge loan for Ukraine over the dispute.
“The government has set up the delegation that is expected to do a fact-finding mission on the Druzhba pipeline,” Hungarian Deputy Energy Minister Gabor Czepek said in a video posted on his official Facebook page which showed him standing at the border with Ukraine.
