Assistant to Hungarian PM accused Ukraine of blackmailing Hungary and Slovakia by cutting off oil supplies after the countries stopped receiving oil from Russia's Lukoil group, reports "Reuters".
The EU's eastern neighbors Slovakia and Hungary stepped up the pressure after last week they said they had stopped receiving crude from Russia's Lukoil group via Ukraine due to the company being placed on a sanctions list by Kiev.
On Monday, they asked the European Commission to use an association agreement under which Ukraine cannot block oil transit.
"Ukraine is blackmailing the two countries that declare peace and a ceasefire," said Gergely Gulyash at a press conference. "If the situation is not resolved, there will be fuel shortages... a solution must be found by September."
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico criticized sanctions against Russia and military aid to Ukraine.
The EU imposed sanctions on Russian oil in 2022, although Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic were granted exemptions due to their dependence.
On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings said refineries in Slovakia and Hungary owned by the Hungarian group faced significant credit risk following Ukraine's decision to sanction Russian oil producer Lukoil.
Slovakia urged the European Commission on Thursday not to postpone the decision to mediate in a consultative procedure with Ukraine.
Gulias said that Budapest is looking for solutions.
"One thing is that the Ukrainians recognize that they cannot do this with two EU countries," he said. "One is that the European Commission is helping us, and the third is that we have a legal loophole that allows the oil to be transferred by someone who is not affected by the sanctions.
Hungary's European Affairs Minister János Boca said Hungary is investigating whether Ukraine's actions violate World Trade Organization regulations.