Hungary and Slovakia have significantly disrupted the European pro-Ukrainian consensus by vetoing a €90 billion loan and a new Russian sanctions package over a dispute regarding interrupted oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. While Hungary refuses to support any decisions favorable to Kyiv until flows resume, Slovakia has escalated the crisis by cutting off emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine. On the battlefield, Kyiv claims to have reclaimed 400 square kilometers of southern territory, though this rare advance is overshadowed by continuous Russian drone strikes on civilian and energy infrastructure in Odesa.
Date: February 23, 2026. Source: france24.com