EU Support for Ukraine Stumbles as Hungary Looks to Delay Aid

European Support for Ukraine Stumbles on Eve of Invasion’s 4th AnniversaryHungary said that it would block both the latest sanctions package on Russia and a financial aid package to Kyiv worth about $106 billion.Police officers at the site of an explosion in Lviv, Ukraine, on Sunday. Credit...Mauricio Lima for The New York TimesFeb. 23, 2026, 6:15 a.m. ETThe European Union had hoped to make a big show of support for Ukraine this week, on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion and at a moment when there has been little sign of progress in U.S.-mediated efforts to end the war.But those plans have been upended after Hungary said that it would block the latest package of sanctions against Russia and that it would also stall progress on an already-agreed-to financial aid package for Ukraine.The sanctions package could still pass, and officials and diplomats are also hoping that the delay to the aid package is a snag and not a derailment. Nonetheless, the problems underscore how the bloc’s consensus-based decision-making process can grind to a standstill.Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, who has maintained friendly relations with Russia and is a frequent critic of Ukraine, has repeatedly delayed E.U. sanctions in the past, only to eventually allow them through. He faces an election in April and is trailing in some polls.For Ukraine, the move creates uncertainty at a critical juncture. Kyiv will soon need the aid package, worth 90 billion euros, or about $106 billion, to fund both defenses and day-to-day needs and had expected the first installments of the loan to arrive in the coming months. Ukrainian officials have said that they need the funds to start being disbursed by this spring to avoid a budget crunch.Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said that there was probably “not going to be progress” on the sanctions package at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.“We are, of course, doing our utmost,” she told reporters as she entered the meeting. She also gently chided Hungary’s reasons for blocking the package, saying, “We shouldn’t tie together things that are not connected to each other at all.”Hungary said that it would block the sanctions and the aid package because of disruptions to the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukraine and supplies Russian crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia.Ukraine has said that the pipeline was damaged by a Russian attack in late January and that repairs were ongoing. But Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of stalling and of deliberately restricting oil supplies.ImagePrime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary in Brussels in December. He has maintained friendly relations with Russia and is a frequent critic of Ukraine.Credit...Nicolas Tucat/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIn response, Hungary and Slovakia announced last week that they would halt diesel supplies to Kyiv, just as Ukraine faces huge energy shortages as a result of Russian military strikes.Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia later threatened to stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv resumed oil supplies through the Druzbha pipeline by Monday.In a statement on social media, Mr. Fico said, “In January 2026 alone, these emergency supplies, needed to stabilize the Ukrainian energy grid, were required twice as much as during the entire year of 2025.”The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned the threats by Hungary and Slovakia, describing them as “ultimatums and blackmail” in a statement on Saturday. “Such actions, in the context of massive and targeted Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, are provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region,” the ministry said.Mr. Orban escalated the spat on Sunday.“We will secure Hungary’s fuel supply and take necessary countermeasures until shipments resume,” Mr. Orban wrote on social media.European Union officials had hoped to agree on the bloc’s 20th sanctions package at the meeting of foreign ministers on Monday, a day before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Two of the bloc’s leaders, Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, will be in Kyiv on Tuesday to commemorate the date.The new sanctions package includes a full maritime services ban for Russian crude oil, which was meant to slash Moscow’s energy revenues.Hungary has delayed such packages before. Mr. Orban has also sought to weaken or overturn key provisions of sanctions, and he has previously used his veto to extract concessions from Brussels.The decision to object to the financial assistance program for Ukraine was unexpected. It had already been agreed to in December, and Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic had signed off on the condition that they would not have to pay costs related to the loan.Efforts to end the war have shown relatively little sign of progress, with the last round of U.S.-mediated talks ending last week. While American officials have voiced optimism that Russia and Ukraine might be headed for a breakthrough, European officials expressed doubts.“I do not see any readiness on the Russian side to really, in the substance, come to a compromise,” Johann Wadephul, the German foreign minister, said as he walked into the meeting in Brussels on Monday.“Europe should be on Ukraine’s side,” he added. “We are the supporters of Ukraine.”Jeanna Smialek is the Brussels bureau chief for The Times.Constant Méheut reports on the war in Ukraine, including battlefield developments, attacks on civilian centers and how the war is affecting its people.SKIP