Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a barely veiled threat to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday, warning that Ukrainian soldiers might be given the Hungarian leader's phone number if Budapest continues blocking a €90 billion EU aid package.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy stated: "Hopefully, no one in the EU will block the €90bn tranche to arm Ukrainian soldiers. Otherwise, we'll give our troops that person's phone number and let them speak to him in their own language."
The remarks, reported by Euronews, were immediately interpreted in Budapest as a death threat. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó called the statement "beyond all bounds" and accused Zelenskyy of threatening Orbán with violence.
The confrontation represents a dramatic escalation in the increasingly bitter relationship between Kyiv and Budapest. It also raises questions about the limits of diplomatic speech during wartime, as Zelenskyy's words could be interpreted as soliciting violence against a fellow European leader.
To understand today's headlines, we must look at yesterday's decisions. The dispute centers on the Druzhba oil pipeline, a Soviet-era infrastructure artery that carries Russian crude to and . The pipeline was damaged by missile strikes in late January, and has refused to repair it while continues its invasion.
