Leaked Pentagon documents have revealed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had planned “behind closed doors” to, among other things, occupy Russian cities and blow up a vital crude oil pipeline between Russia and Hungary, a NATO member.
The leaked intelligence papers, which had not been previously disclosed, include correspondence between Zelensky and top government officials that revealed that the Ukrainian head of state proposed blowing up the Druzhba oil pipeline in order to render the Hungarian infrastructure which relies on Russian oil inoperable, The Washington Post reports.
Per the leaked documents, Zelenky’s words came in mid-February of this year during a meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko, where he proposed blowing up the Soviet-built Druzhba pipeline that supplies Hungary with Russian oil. “Ukraine should just blow up the pipeline and likely destroy Hungarian [Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán’s industry, which is based heavily on Russian oil,” Zelensky said.
The Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukrainian territory, continues to supply Hungary with a considerable portion of its vital oil supply. According to the Russian government, the pipeline delivered 4.9 million tonnes of oil to Hungary in 2022. It also delivers oil to other countries in Central Europe, including Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Reacting to the news, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovác took to Twitter to ask: “How is it possible that Ukraine is plotting against a NATO country??”
Péter Tarjányi, a Hungarian security analyst, in a post to social media called Zelensky’s plan a “very unfriendly, mistaken, and stupid move,” adding that while he understands “that Ukraine does not like many Hungarian government actions and communications … this does not justify such a plan or idea.”
Tarjányi then highlighted that “on the one hand, Hungary has helped hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees over the past 15 months, despite all the differences of opinion. We have to understand, our country sent aid, medicine, AND … in the end, voted for ALL sanctions against Russia.”
Given that Hungary is a NATO member, Tarjányi continued, “Kyiv must explain itself very quickly.” “The main question is: Why did the Ukrainian president think that such a plan could be justified???? Why did he think he could risk NATO support by launching such an attack?”
News of Ukraine’s planned attack on critical Hungarian infrastructure broke one day before Zelensky traveled to Germany, where he was awarded the Charlemagne Prize, the oldest accolade given for work done in the service of European unification, as The European Conservative reported.
During the ceremony, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who’s presently being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) for the shadowy purchase of 4.5 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccines in the European Union, said Zelensky and Ukraine are “fighting for the values and the obligation that this prize embodies.”
“In doing so,” von der Leyen stated, “they are also fighting for our [Europe’s] own freedom and our values: democracy and the rule of law, free speech and the freedom to create your own destiny.”
For some, the new leak clearly undermines the narrative put forward by von der Leyen that Zelensky is a heroic, innocent unifier.
Speaking on Zelensky’s award, Sahra Wagenknecht, formerly a prominent member of the Bundestag for Die Linke, said that “whoever receives the Charlemagne Prize should do everything possible to end the war in Ukraine through negotiations and a compromise peace.”Rather than presenting Zelensky with the award, Wagenknecht said it would be much more constructive if Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) “could convince Zelensky to enable [a path toward peace] from his side.”
