Russia Says Ukraine Used Oil Cutoff to Meddle in Hungarian Vote
Oleg Tyapkin, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's 3rd European Department, made the allegations in an interview with a state news agency, asserting that Budapest was "justifiably outraged" by Kyiv's abrupt suspension of pipeline transit.
"It can hardly be considered a mere coincidence that this provocative act was organized precisely now, during the final stage of the election campaign," Tyapkin said.
The senior diplomat broadened his accusations beyond the pipeline dispute, pointing to the alleged bugging of Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto's phone by Ukrainian intelligence services, as well as EU criticism directed at Prime Minister Orbán, as further evidence of coordinated external interference. He added that Hungarian media has simultaneously been flooded with fabricated reports alleging Russian electoral meddling.
Tyapkin also dismissed transparency efforts led by regional partners. While Moscow acknowledged Czech proposals to deploy EU technical specialists to inspect the damaged pipeline section on Ukrainian soil — and noted a similar offer from Slovakia — he said even Bratislava's own envoy had been turned away.
"However, even the Slovak ambassador in Kyiv was denied access to the site of the 'accident.' What does this indicate? That the Ukrainian regime has something to hide," he stressed.
The diplomat further alleged a deliberate strategy of delay, warning that "everything points to the fact that the Ukrainian authorities, with the connivance of Eurocrats, will try to delay the pipeline's return to operation as long as possible."
The economic toll of the shutdown is already being felt acutely across Central Europe. Both Slovakia and Hungary are facing mounting supply disruptions and have been unable to secure adequate alternative sources — a key reason, Tyapkin said, why Bratislava and Budapest are pressing so urgently for the pipeline's reinstatement.
Turning to Germany, Tyapkin acknowledged that opposition voices there have renewed calls to restore Russian energy imports via Druzhba and the intact Nord Stream branch — a shift he attributed to tightening fuel markets and surging prices following U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iran. Yet Berlin's governing coalition, he argued, remains unmoved.
"However, the German government continues to stubbornly ignore the multibillion-dollar costs and obvious risks to the country's economic model and its citizens, fanatically demanding an end to oil and gas imports from Russia," he said.
Moscow is also tracking Germany's renewed nuclear energy debate with close attention, with Tyapkin issuing a pointed warning about the "fatal consequences" of such ambitions for Berlin.
On the diplomatic front, Tyapkin downplayed the significance of recent Russian-Ukrainian talks held in Geneva, describing the choice of venue as incidental rather than symbolic.
"One round of negotiations on Ukraine took place in this city 'solely due to a confluence of logistical circumstances,'" he said, adding that Russia's position on Swiss neutrality remains unchanged.
"In our assessments of Switzerland's departure from the principles and traditions of neutrality, nothing has changed. We state that nothing remains of the former reputation of an unengaged Swiss negotiation platform, de facto," he concluded.
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