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Sanctions and Hungary: diplomatic fault lines in early May 2022
Summary
As fighting continued near Izium, Kyiv pressed partners on oil sanctions while a new dispute with Budapest opened.
What did Ukraine want from its partners as May began? On 2 May 2022, the answer ran through sanctions, money and a fresh quarrel with a neighbour.
On that day, Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, accused Hungary of having advance knowledge of the Russian invasion. He said Hungary had been warned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and that Budapest had plans to annex parts of Western Ukraine. These were Kyiv's allegations, and they put Hungary–Ukraine relations under strain.
The sanctions argument
The dispute sat alongside a wider debate on pressure against Moscow. On 1 May, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that the next EU sanctions package on Russia must include an oil embargo. Otherwise, he said, the West would be supporting Ukraine with one hand while financing the Russian war machine with the other.
The positions on the other side were distinct. On 30 April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said sanctions must be lifted as part of peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. On 1 May, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Germany might lift sanctions if Russia completely withdrew its troops from Ukraine. Sanctions were thus both a tool of pressure and a possible bargaining item.
Washington's signals
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Kyiv, as reported on 1 May, and met Ukrainian diplomats. Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, called the visit symbolic and said Ukraine expected Congress to pass a bill providing 33 billion dollars in additional funding to support Ukraine over the coming months. House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff said a visit by President Joe Biden to Ukraine was only a matter of time.
Fighting continues
On the ground, Russian artillery fire near Izium in the Kharkiv region killed three people and wounded eight, according to regional military administration head Oleh Synehubov. He said Russian forces were trying to advance towards Udy, Prudianka and Stary Saltiv.
Taken together, the reports from 30 April to 2 May show Kyiv pressing for tougher economic measures and further aid, while diplomatic friction with a neighbouring state added a new strand to the war's politics.
