BUDAPEST, March 2. /TASS/. Hungary views Ukraine’s attack on the infrastructure of the TurkStream gas pipeline as an attack on its sovereignty, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
"My Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov told me by phone that overnight a Ukrainian drone had attacked the Russkaya station, an important compressor station of the TurkStream gas pipeline. Three drones were neutralized by Russian air defenses. The TurkStream pipeline safeguards the reliability of natural gas supplies to Hungary, so a potential inoperability of the pipeline may seriously undermine our energy security," Szijjarto wrote on Facebook (banned in Russia; owned by Meta designated as extremist in Russia).
"Energy security is a matter of sovereignty, so such attacks should be viewed as an attack on sovereignty. The European Commission has recently issued a guarantee that Ukraine would not target the infrastructure of the gas pipeline leading to the European Union, so we urge the European Commission to immediately clarify whether it honors its guarantees," the Hungarian minister said.
In February, Hungary received guarantees for its energy security from the European Commission. They cover negotiations with Ukraine on the resumption of Russian gas transit to Central Europe, the continuation of the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, and non-aggression by the Ukrainian armed forces against the TurkStream pipeline, which delivers fuel from Russia to Hungary. Hungary has bound the compliance with these requirements to the matter of the extension of EU sanctions against Russia, as well as the launch of talks with Ukraine on its accession to the association.
Hungary continues to receive most gas under long-term contracts with Gazprom through the TurkStream pipeline and its branches via Bulgaria and Serbia. According to Hungary's estimates, this amounted to 5.6 billion cubic meters in 2023, while in 2024 it reached a record high of 7.6 billion cubic meters.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that Lavrov briefed his Hungarian counterpart on Ukraine's attempted terrorist attack on the TurkStream infrastructure. The conversation took place at the initiative of the Hungarian side. Overnight on February 28, Kiev once again tried to attack the station ensuring the supply of gas through TurkStream. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian forces used three UAVs in the attack. The drones were shot down at a safe distance from the station.