On Wednesday, American Vice President JD Vance criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, echoing the position of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, according to whom Ukraine allegedly used oil deliveries to influence the elections in Hungary.
US Vice President JD Vance attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, April 8, describing his comments about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as “absolutely scandalous” and reiterating the Budapest leader’s stance that Ukraine allegedly used the interruption of oil deliveries to influence the parliamentary elections in Hungary, notes Reuters.
“It is absolutely scandalous”
The statements were made during his visit to Budapest, where JD Vance expressed his support for Viktor Orban ahead of the parliamentary elections on April 12, considered, on one hand, the most difficult test in his 16 years of mandate for the Hungarian leader, and on the other hand, crucial for the influence of the supporters of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement in Europe.
In this context, the tense relations between Hungary and Ukraine were a central topic of the election campaign: Viktor Orban accused Volodimir Zelenski, whenever he had the chance, that he stopped the oil flow through the Drujba pipeline, in an attempt to influence the vote, while Ukraine explained that it was damaged by a Russian attack and that repairs require time.
In parallel, Hungary has blocked a European loan of 90 billion euros intended for Ukraine, which led Volodymyr Zelensky to say that he could point out the person responsible to “our boys,” emphasizing that they could “speak to him in his own language.”
This remark, made on March 5th, at a press conference in Kiev, when the Ukrainian president explained that the delay in European aid was caused by the position of “a single EU representative”, was criticized at that time even by European leaders.
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