President Donald Trump has voiced strong frustration over recent Ukrainian strikes on the Russian Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies crude to Hungary and Slovakia—both NATO members.
Newsweek reached out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office and the White House for comment.
The Russia-Ukraine war has reached a critical stage. European leaders are trying to keep Trump aligned with Kyiv, urging him toward a firmer stance against Moscow. Meanwhile, Russia has made its own outreach to Trump, seeking closer—and potentially lucrative—ties with Washington.
But continued attacks from both sides have tested Trump’s patience as he pushes to end a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and devastated much of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Trump’s Note to Orban
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently shared a handwritten message from Trump in a private Facebook group for his supporters, according to Hungary’s Magyar Nemzet newspaper.
Orban had written to Trump complaining about the Ukrainian strikes on Druzhba and their impact on Hungary’s energy security. Ukraine has defended the attacks, saying the pipeline also fuels Russian military forces.
“Viktor—I do not like hearing this,” Trump wrote in response. “I am very angry about it. Tell Slovakia. You are my great friend.”
The note was later shared on X by Andras Laszlo, a Hungarian member of the European Parliament from Orban’s Fidesz party.
Orban said the strikes occurred just days before the “historic meeting” in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin—and noted Ukraine has since targeted Druzhba again.
“This pipeline supplies Hungary and Slovakia, two countries that have no other means of importing crude oil,” Orban said. “Hungary supports Ukraine with electricity and petrol, in return they bomb [a] pipeline that [supplies] us. Very unfriendly move! We wish President Trump every success in his pursuit for peace.”
Ukraine Pushes Back
In response to earlier complaints from Budapest, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha posted on X that “it is Russia, not Ukraine, who began this war and refuses to end it.”
“Hungary has been told for years that Moscow is an unreliable partner,” Sybiha said. “Despite this, Hungary has made every effort to maintain its reliance on Russia. Even after the full-scale war began. You can now send your complaints—and threats—to your friends in Moscow.”
Trump continues to press for a face-to-face meeting between Zelensky and Putin in hopes of negotiating a peace deal. However, both sides remain deeply divided over Ukraine’s security future and the question of territorial control.
