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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized Hungary’s refusal to support an oil embargo against Russia, despite the fact that revenues from energy resources are used to finance the Kremlin’s “war machine,” Ukrainian news portal Jewropejskaja Prawda reported. In a video call at the World Economic Forum debate in Switzerland, the Ukrainian president accused Western countries of failing to take a unified stance toward Ukraine.
This article was originally published on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.
“We have reached the sixth sanctions package, which includes the oil embargo,” the Ukrainian president said, stressing that as long as the import ban is not introduced, Russia could earn up to $200 billion from its oil exports, which could be used to “buy any weapons.”
As we have reported, the Hungarian government still refuses to vote in favor of the EU oil embargo against Russia for economic reasons. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has suggested to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, that the European Commission’s proposal for a sixth sanctions package against Russia should not be put on the agenda for the next Council meeting at the end of May.
Zelenskyy believes that Hungary and Turkey in particular are not showing solidarity with his country:
Something is wrong with Hungary.”
He said Hungary’s support for Ukraine is “not as unified as that of the other EU countries.”
The Ukrainian president said Ukrainian troops were resisting, but it would take time and further efforts to overcome Russian strength in equipment and weapons. Zelenskyy called on Western countries to provide Ukraine with additional weapons, such as rocket launchers and tanks.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó reacted to the Ukrainian President’s remarks:
Hungary will continue to help Ukraine.”
Szijjártó ironically wrote in a Facebook post: “If everything Zelensky has just said in Davos means in Ukrainian that “thank you Hungarians for giving shelter to more than 750,000 Ukrainian refugees, thank you for caring for them and for giving them jobs, thank you for offering to ensure the medical treatment to 130 Ukrainian children and hospital care to injured Ukrainian soldiers; and also thank you for offering scholarships to 1,000 young Ukrainians and standing ready to rebuild a school and a nursery in Ukraine as well as for arranging accommodation to internal refugees, then our answer is this: it is our pleasure and we will continue to help!”.
Sources: MTI, Portfolio, Origo
Featured image via Laurent Gillieron/MTI/EPA
