MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over Kiev's actions concerning Budapest's deal with Russia's Gazprom gas company, Hungarian top diplomat Peter Szijjarto said in a statement published on Facebook on Tuesday.
"The Ukrainian government's actions aimed against the deal, through the European Commission, are extremely outrageous," the statement reads. "Ukraine has nothing to do with those we make deals with," Szijjarto said. He pointed out that Budapest viewed such steps by Kiev as "a violation of [Hungary's] sovereignty and national security interests." "Our Foreign Ministry has summoned the Ukrainian ambassador," the Hungarian top diplomat added. He also described Kiev's step as unfriendly, pointing to the support that Hungary had earlier provided to Ukraine, including the provision of lung ventilators and medical equipment, as well as investment.
On Monday, Hungary and Gazprom signed a new long-term gas supply deal bypassing Ukraine. The document was inked by the top officials of Gazprom and Hungary's MVM energy company at the Foreign Ministry in Budapest. Ukraine, in turn, vowed to request the European Commission to assess the agreement's compliance with the EU's energy laws. In response, Budapest accused Kiev of interfering in its domestic affairs. On October 1, Hungary will start to receive Russian gas via the Balkan Stream gas pipeline (a continuation of TurkStream) and pipelines passing through Southeast Europe.