Group of Hungarians who arrived to inspect Druzhba oil pipeline has no official status, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry says
A group of Hungarian citizens who arrived in Ukraine to inspect the Druzhba oil pipeline has no official status or scheduled official meetings.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said this, Censor.NET reports citing European Pravda.
Details
"We know that this morning a group of Hungarian citizens entered the territory of Ukraine under the general rules for all citizens of Schengen countries, using the visa-free regime," he said.
At the same time, the spokesperson stressed that any persons travelling for tourism purposes may enter Ukraine from Schengen countries in exactly this way.
"On the territory of Ukraine, this group of persons has no official status or scheduled official meetings, so it is definitely incorrect to call them a ‘delegation’," Tykhyi explained.
He added that citizens of other states may stay on the territory of Ukraine if they "treat Ukraine with respect and follow the general rules of visiting, including for tourism purposes".
Earlier, it was reported that a Hungarian delegation had travelled to Ukraine for talks on the Druzhba oil pipeline.
What is known about the state of the Druzhba oil pipeline?
- On 27 January, Russian occupation forces struck a critical infrastructure facility belonging to the Naftogaz group in western Ukraine. The target of the attack was likely Ukraine's largest oil pumping station, located in Brody, which supplies the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
- The prime ministers of Hungary and Slovakia, Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico, accused Ukraine of delaying the restoration of the oil pipeline's operation for "political reasons," and on 18 February, the authorities of these two countries announced the suspension of oil product exports to Ukraine in response to Ukraine's halt of Russian oil transit.
