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“Our guys can call him and speak to him in their own language,” Zelensky said.
A dispute inside the European Union over funding for Ukraine has escalated after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that continued opposition to a major aid package could have consequences.
Volodymyr Zelensky suggested the obstruction by a single EU leader could draw an unusual response from Ukraine’s armed forces if the deadlock continues.
Speaking on March 5, Zelensky said he hoped the delay to a planned 90 billion euro ($107 billion) EU loan package would soon end.
According to the Kyiv Independent, he blamed the hold-up on “one person” inside the European Union.
“We hope that one person in the EU will not block the 90 billion euros — or at least the first tranche of it — so that Ukrainian soldiers receive the weapons they need,” Zelensky said.
“Otherwise, we will simply give the address of that person to our Armed Forces — our guys can call him and speak to him in their own language.”
Zelensky did not mention a name, but the comments appeared directed at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has opposed the loan while disputing disruptions to Russian oil shipments.
Oil route clash
The dispute is tied to the Druzhba pipeline, a Soviet-era oil route that delivers Russian crude to Hungary and Slovakia.
Ukrainian officials say flows stopped in late January after Russian attacks damaged energy infrastructure in western Ukraine.
Budapest claims Ukraine intentionally stopped the transit. Orban previously wrote on X that Hungary would “break” what he described as a Ukrainian oil blockade “by force.”
“There will be no deals, no compromise,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote.
Hungary has also blocked the EU’s 20th sanctions package against Russia while insisting oil deliveries resume before it supports the loan, according to officials familiar with Budapest’s position.
Election pressure
During the same briefing, Zelensky said he personally opposed restoring the pipeline.
“To be honest, I would not restore it. That is my position,” he said. “This is Russian oil.”
Hungary and Slovakia, both landlocked, were the only EU countries still receiving Russian crude through the pipeline’s southern branch before the disruption.
Some political observers link Orban’s sharper rhetoric toward Kyiv to Hungary’s upcoming parliamentary election in April, where his Fidesz party faces growing pressure in the polls.
Sources: Kyiv Independent, Reuters, AP
