Trump ‘Very Angry’ At Zelensky Following Attacks That Harmed Ally
President Donald Trump said he is “very angry” with Ukraine after an attack on the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies oil to Hungary.
According to Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert Brovdi, also known as Madyar, Ukrainian forces struck the Unecha oil pumping station in Russia. As a result, oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline could be suspended for up to five days, The Hill reported.
An earlier strike on the pipeline occurred on August 13, sparking large fires, but repairs were completed by August 19, according to Politico EU. Ukraine launched a second attack on the facility on Friday.
“Hungary supports Ukraine with electricity and petrol, in return, they bomb pipeline that supply us. Very unfriendly move! We wish President Trump every success in his pursuit of peace,” wrote Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, who is allied with both the U.S. and Russia.
Trump replied, saying, “Viktor – I do not like hearing this. I am very angry about it. Tell Slovakia. You are my great friend.”
On Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár sent a letter to the European Commission calling for stronger safeguards to protect critical infrastructure, The Hill added.
“Given that in the past years, the EU and its Member States have provided hundreds of billions of Euros worth of support to Ukraine, we find Ukraine’s actions, which severely threaten the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia, completely unacceptable,” says the letter.
“To this end, we strongly call on the commission to immediately uphold the commitments outlined in the abovementioned statement and guarantee the safety of energy supply of its Member States,” the letter added.
Meanwhile, Russia on Sunday accused Ukraine of launching overnight drone strikes that caused a fire at a nuclear power plant in the western Kursk region, as Ukraine marked the 34th anniversary of its independence.
Russian officials said multiple energy and power facilities were targeted in the attacks. At the Kursk nuclear plant, a transformer was damaged, sparking a fire that was quickly contained, the facility’s press service said on Telegram. No casualties were reported, and radiation levels remained within normal ranges, Newsweek reported.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was aware of reports linking the transformer fire to “military activity” but noted it had not independently verified the incident.
In a separate development, firefighters responded to a blaze at the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad region, a key hub for fuel exports. Regional officials said the fire was caused by debris from downed Ukrainian drones, following earlier reports that 10 drones had been intercepted in the area, Newsweek added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 95 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions. At the same time, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 72 drones and decoys, along with a cruise missile, into Ukrainian airspace, of which 48 drones were either intercepted or jammed.
The latest strikes come as Trump works to advance a potential peace agreement between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, following separate meetings with both leaders in Alaska and at the White House.
One unresolved issue in the negotiations is security guarantees for Ukraine. Among the options under discussion is the possibility of Ukraine joining the European Union instead of NATO.
At the urging of European leaders, Trump called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Monday to press him to support Ukraine’s bid for EU membership. Orbán, however, posted on Facebook that Ukraine’s accession to the EU “does not provide any security guarantees,” adding that “linking membership with security guarantees is unnecessary and dangerous.”
A future summit between Zelensky and Putin could take place in Budapest, though both governments have expressed skepticism about the idea. Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues on the ground as Trump and European leaders seek a path to ending the more than three-year-old war.
