Angeline Tan of the New American magazine elaborated on the plot, which was revealed by leaked files from the U.S. Department of Defense. She remarked that the Ukrainian leader had plotted the pipeline's destruction with top government officials "behind closed doors." Doing so would have crippled Hungarian infrastructure, which mainly depends on Russian crude oil.
Zelensky made the suggestion during a February meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko. "Ukraine should just blow up the pipeline and likely destroy Hungarian [Prime Minister] Viktor Orban's industry, which is based heavily on Russian oil," Zelensky said at the time.
First constructed in the 1960s, the Druzhba pipeline supplies oil from Russia to various nations in eastern, central and western Europe – including Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. Data from Moscow noted that the pipeline supplied 4.9 million metric tons of oil to Hungary in 2022. (Related: Hungary, Serbia building pipeline for Russian oil and gas to dodge EU sanctions.)
Zoltan Kovacs, Hungarian secretary of state for public diplomacy and relations, reacted to the revelation. He tweeted whether it was "possible that Ukraine is plotting against a NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] country," pertaining to Budapest. Hungary joined NATO in 1999.
Hungarian security analyst Peter Tarjanyi had strong words against Zelensky's suggestion, calling it a "very unfriendly, mistaken and stupid move." He elaborated: "[While] Ukraine does not like many Hungarian government actions and communications, this does not justify such a plan or idea. Hungary has helped hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees over the past 15 months, despite all the differences of opinion."
Given Hungary's NATO membership, the security analyst called on Kyiv to "explain itself very quickly." He continued: "The main question is: Why did [Zelensky] think that such a plan could be justified? Why did he think he could risk NATO support by launching such an attack?"
Kyiv antagonizing Budapest for its level-headed approach
Since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022, Hungary has approached the issue of Russian oil in a level-headed manner. Aware of the difficulties of penalizing a major provider of energy, Budapest trudged lightly over its responses to Moscow. This incensed Kyiv, which considers Orban's rational response tantamount to collaboration with Russia.
It even came to a point where Ukraine declared the Hungarian leader an enemy of the state. In May 2022, the Rio Times reported that Orban's name is officially listed on the Myrotvorets website. Operated by the Security Services of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the website serves as an unofficial "hit list" of personalities that have drawn the ire of Kyiv.
The website described Orban as an "accomplice of Russian war criminals" and an "anti-Ukrainian propagandist." It also pointed out his "general cooperation with the Russian aggressor," his "participation in humanitarian aggression against Ukraine" and his role as an "accomplice in the crimes of the Russian authorities against Ukraine and its citizens."
Myrotvorets also accused Orban of specific "crimes" such as his refusal to allow Ukraine-bound weapons to pass through Hungary, his refusal to reject Russian gas supplies and his willingness to pay for the latter in rubles.
Moreover, the site also referenced Orban's April 2022 statement pertaining to the forces the country has to face to remain independent. Orban enumerated these threats – namely the local opposition, "the bureaucrats in Brussels, money and institutes of the [George] Soros empire, international media and the Ukrainian president."
Watch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky forcing Hungary to choose a side to support in the Russia-Ukraine war below.
This video is from the pax hominibus bonae voluntatis channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Hungarian official: Pro-war EU wants Ukraine conflict to continue.
No more! European countries call for end to Ukraine funding.
Hungary says no to EU's Russian oil embargo sanction.
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