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Hungary blocks Russia sanctions and EU cash for Kyiv at the eve Ukraine war anniversary

A dispute over oil supplies led to Hungary's veto of new?EU sanction on Russia as well as a massive loan for Ukraine on Monday. This was a major blow to the pro-Ukrainian consensus in Europe on the eve the fourth anniversary of the 'war.

In Ukraine, Kyiv has claimed a rare "frontline" advance. However, Moscow continues to target Ukrainian cities and two people were killed in 'drone' strikes in the south.

The diplomatic spotlight was in Brussels, where European Foreign Ministers failed to convince Budapest to not punish Ukraine for the delays in restarting the flow Russian oil into Hungary via an old Soviet-era pipeline.

Slovakia announced that it would not supply emergency electricity to Kyiv until the Druzhba oil pipeline resumes flowing.

Ukraine's drones could escalate the crisis by striking a Russian pumping facility overnight that served the pipeline. The pipeline was originally designed to transport Moscow's crude oil through Ukraine into eastern Europe. However, since January 27, shipments from Slovakia and Hungary are no longer being made.

KALLAS: 'THIS ISN'T A RETROGRADE,'

Kaja Kallas, EU's chief of foreign policy, told reporters that "we have not yet reached an agreement regarding the 20th package of sanctions." This is a disappointment and a message that we did not want to send, but work continues.

European Council President Antonio Costa

The EU has urged the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, to honour an agreement for a 90-billion euro loan ($106.11 billion), to Ukraine.

In a letter, he said that Ukraine was free to restart oil flow if they wanted to and added: "I cannot support any decision favourable to Ukraine until it returns to normality."

Ukraine claims that oil flow stopped in January after a Russian attack against pipeline infrastructure. It is repairing the damage as quickly as possible.

Slovakia and Hungary, who own the only two EU refineries still dependent on oil via Druzhba, say Ukraine is responsible for the outage. This is one of the most heated disputes between the three neighbors.

Both Hungary and Slovakia have leaders that have defied the European consensus in maintaining close ties with Moscow. However, they have not blocked EU sanctions against Russia or loans to Ukraine.

UKRAINE APPEALS FOR FRONTLINE GAINS

The decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin to send his troops into Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022 triggered Europe's most deadly conflict since World War Two. Russian forces have destroyed Ukrainian cities and killed tens-of-thousands of civilians. On both sides, hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded.

In the first year of the war, Ukraine pushed back the Russian offensive and took back large swathes occupied territory. A Ukrainian counteroffensive was unsuccessful the following year. Since then, Moscow has been making slow but persistent gains along a 1,200 km (750 mile) front.

Oleksandr Sryskyi, commander-in chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, announced on Monday that his forces "restored" control over 400 square kilometers of territory along the southern frontline.

Moscow did not respond immediately to the report. If the claim is true, this would be the largest Ukrainian gain in months and the first since December.

The U.S. tried to broker a deal between Russia Ukraine but it has not been successful. The most recent talks in Geneva, on February 17-18, did not result in a breakthrough.

The chief of staff of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainian media that another round of talks to end the war in Ukraine may be held by the end of the week.

While President Donald Trump has diverted the United States from providing military and economic support to Ukraine, European nations have increasingly stepped up. The threats of Slovakia and Hungary have put this consensus at risk.

Four diplomats told us that Hungary's foreign minister?Peter Szijjarto received harsh criticism behind closed doors from EU colleagues in Brussels. Some ministers accused Orban's Government of using this issue to gain political advantage ahead of the tough?elections in April.

RUSSIA HITS ODESSA

Russia continues to target Ukraine's energy grid and power grid with nightly drone and rocket attacks. They claim that such infrastructure is legitimate because it aids in the war effort. Kyiv has said that Moscow is trying to break the national will of Ukrainians by freezing them in their homes.

Ukraine's emergency services reported that two people died and three were injured in the latest drone strikes which hit the southern region of?Odesa. Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine's Minister of Infrastructure, said that Russia has attacked the port infrastructure in Odesa.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry cited by RIA state news agency, Moscow's forces have successfully struck Ukrainian fuel, transport and energy infrastructure. Reporting by Lili Bayer in Brussels, Kate Abnett in London, Julia Payne in Amsterdam, Bart Meijer and Friederike Hine in Berlin; reporting by Lili Bayer in Brussels, Kate Abnett in London, Julia Payne in Moscow, Andrew Gray in Warsaw, Pawel Flikiwicz and Anna Pruchnicka at Gdansk; writing by Alan Charlish, Michael Kahn and Gareth Jones in Prague and Andrew Heavens in Warsaw.

(source: Reuters)