Washington, 20 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suggested Hungary could disrupt power supplies to neighbouring Ukraine if Kiev continues to interfere with Russian oil deliveries.

"I don't want to threaten or prejudge anything. But Ukraine receives a significant part of its electricity via Hungary," Orbán told Hungarian journalists in Washington on Thursday.

The Hungarian leader said Kiev should cease what he described as attempts to create unrest and engage in "blackmail," adding that Budapest could consider "retaliatory steps."

Since late January, no Russian oil has reached Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline via Ukraine, cutting off supplies on which Hungary and Slovakia had been largely dependent. Budapest and Bratislava halted fuel deliveries to Ukraine on Wednesday in response.

Orbán, who faces a difficult parliamentary election on April 12, claimed Kiev wants him to lose the vote and was seeking to drive up Hungarian heating costs by blocking the pipeline.

Without presenting evidence, he alleged that the rising conservative opposition Respect and Freedom Party (Tisza) was "funded by Ukraine" and that Ukraine, the European Union and Germany had struck a "secret pact" at the recent Munich Security Conference aimed at removing him from office.

For the first time in 16 years, Orbán faces a serious challenge to his grip on power. Opinion polls have for the past 18 months shown Tisza, led by Péter Magyar, running eight to 10 percentage points ahead of Orbán's Fidesz.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, Orbán has sought to block EU aid for Kiev and sanctions on Moscow, calling the bloc's Ukraine policy "warmongering."

Orbán made the remarks following the first meeting of US President Donald Trump's so-called Board of Peace, a newly-launched body in which Hungary and Bulgaria are the only EU members.

Photo: MIA archive