Shandor said in an interview with European Pravda he believes a neighbour is closer than a relative. "A neighbour is always nearby, they share a border with you, and in difficult times they either help or turn away. That is why we look forward to having good-neighbourly relations with Hungary – the kind we had in the past and will certainly have again," he said.

The ambassador mentioned some examples from history: the first diplomatic mission that Ukraine established in the world was in Hungary, and Hungary was the first country to recognise the Holodomor [a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine which lasted from 1932 to 1933 and claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians – ed.].

"In many difficult situations, such as during the floods in Zakarpattia Oblast, Hungary has been the first to provide help. We have previously received reverse gas and reverse oil flows from Hungary. And so on," Shandor noted.

"So we expect a renewal of good-neighbourly relations. We are ready for them, we are open, and the Hungarian people are open too – they demonstrated that at the elections," he added.

The ambassador also expects previously functioning mechanisms to start up again.

In particular, he mentioned the resumption of the work of the expert group on the rights of national minorities, as well as the reopening of the Hungarian-Ukrainian economic commission, which has not functioned since 2020.

The ambassador also reported that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has already been in contact with Anita Orbán, who is expected to take up the position of foreign minister in Péter Magyar's government.

Ukraine's Ambassador to Hungary Fedir Shandor said  in an interview with European Pravda that a "diplomatic signal" has been exchanged between Sybiha and Orbán.

Asked to explain what this means, Shandor replied: "They have exchanged greetings and positive narratives. And we can now be confident that there will be official dialogue after Péter Magyar officially becomes prime minister of Hungary."

Commenting on possible contact between Magyar and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the ambassador noted that an official conversation between them is unlikely to take place before 11 May, when the new Hungarian parliament convenes.

"So the Hungarian side and the Ukrainian side will likely speak officially on 11-12 May," Shandor added.

On 12 April, Zelenskyy congratulated the opposition Tisza party and its leader Péter Magyar on their victory in Hungary's elections.

Magyar said he wants to maintain friendly relations with Ukraine and is opposed to any peace terms being imposed on Kyiv.

"We are grateful to the Government of the United Kingdom for its consistent and resolute support of Ukraine in countering Russian aggression during the fifth year of full-scale war. The funding is earmarked and will be used to meet the priority needs of the security and defence sector," Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko said.

On 1 March 2025, Sergii Marchenko and his British counterpart Rachel Reeves signed an agreement on providing Ukraine with £2.26 billion (around US$3 billion) for defence needs.

Ukraine received the first two tranches, totalling £1.5 billion (about US1 billion), in March and April 2025.

The funds are part of the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) mechanism worth US$50 billion. The loan will be serviced and repaid from future revenues received from frozen Russian sovereign assets.

In 2024 and 2025, the G7 countries and the European Union have already provided Ukraine with nearly US$28 billion in funding under the ERA.

After the defeat of the party of Hungary's incumbent prime minister in the country's 12 April elections, the EU expressed hope that both the €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine and the EU's 20th sanctions package against Russia would be swiftly unblocked.

It was also reported that the first tranche of military assistance to Ukraine under the €90 billion EU loan will be used to procure Ukrainian-made drones.

As reported by Slovak newspaper Denník N, the loan had previously been blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose party lost his country's parliamentary elections. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he wanted to assume Orbán's position in this matter.

Blanár outlined Slovakia's position on further sanctions against Russia to members of the European Affairs Committee of the Slovak parliament. He noted that Slovakia is seeking a clear, transparent and verifiable statement on the resumption of operations of the Druzhba oil pipeline. Earlier, representatives of the Slovak government said they would support sanctions against Russia provided they did not harm Slovakia's interests.

However, Blanár said the position on blocking is not related to the loan for Ukraine. The minister also highlighted the stance of Hungary's future government, which has indicated its readiness to support the EU's allocation of the loan to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said that the Druzhba pipeline, which was damaged by a Russian attack, could resume operations by the end of April.

The European Commission expects the first tranche of the €90 billion loan for Ukraine to be disbursed in the second quarter of 2026.

After the defeat of the party of Hungary's incumbent prime minister in the country's 12 April elections, the EU expressed hope that both the €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine and the EU's 20th sanctions package against Russia would be swiftly unblocked.

The European Commission has proposed that Ukraine be allocated €45 billion in 2026, of which €16.7 billion would be directed to the Ukrainian state budget and €28.3 billion to support the armed forces, defence sector and weapons production.

It was also reported that the first tranche of military assistance to Ukraine under the €90 billion EU loan will be used to procure Ukrainian-made drones.

The Russian ministry released on social media a list of addresses across 11 European countries where companies are supposedly involved in producing drones jointly with or for Ukraine, or are Ukrainian-linked companies operating in Europe.

The list includes locations in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Spain, Italy, Türkiye and Israel, along with company names and components purportedly produced there.

Russia's Defence Ministry claimed that on 26 March, "the leadership of several European countries" decided to increase drone production and supplies to Ukraine "for strikes on Russian territory", including expanding funding for joint or Europe-based Ukrainian companies in this sector.

It described this as a deliberate step towards escalating the military and political situation across Europe and gradually turning these countries into Ukraine's "strategic rear". The ministry added that this could lead to "unpredictable repercussions" and "drag Europe into the war".

It also said that "the European public should not only understand the real causes of threats to their security, but also know the addresses and locations of Ukrainian and joint UAV production facilities and components within their countries".

Meanwhile, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT noted that the Vilnius street listed by Russia hosts over 700 registered companies, none of which appear linked to the military firms mentioned by the Russian Defence Ministry.

Russian propaganda outlets have previously claimed that Baltic states and Poland allowed Ukraine to use their airspace to strike Russian ports near St Petersburg. Russia's Foreign Ministry said it had issued "warnings" to Baltic countries.

Kubilius said that Ukraine has requested defence assistance totalling €28.3 billion for 2026, adding that the first supply plan will focus on drones produced by Ukraine's advanced defence industry.

He also noted that the EU expects greater involvement of the European defence industry in subsequent supply plans.

The European Commission expects the first tranche of the €90 billion package for Ukraine to be disbursed in the second quarter of 2026.

Following the defeat of Hungary's ruling party in the 12 April elections, the EU hopes to swiftly unblock both the €90 billion loan for Ukraine and the 20th sanctions package against Russia.

The European Commission has proposed allocating €45 billion to Ukraine in 2026, including €16.7 billion for budgetary needs and €28.3 billion for the military, defence and weapons production.

Austria became the 20th country to announce its participation in the agreement.

"Accountability is a key trajectory of Austria's foreign policy. There can be no lasting peace in Ukraine without accountability," the Austrian Foreign Ministry stated.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed Vienna's decision to join the agreement.

"I am grateful to Austria and my colleague Beate Meinl-Reisinger for once again proving that neutrality does not mean indifference. To the contrary, accountability is critical to ensure a lasting peace on our continent," Sybiha wrote on X.

Earlier, Sybiha said Ukraine had secured the "legal minimum" of Council of Europe member states required to put the agreement to a vote. Such a vote is possible at a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 14 and 15 May in Chișinău.

France has announced its readiness to join the Enlarged Partial Agreement, which will make it possible to launch the work of the Special Tribunal on Russia's crime of aggression.

The European Union has allocated the first €10 million towards the work of a special tribunal for the crime of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, which is being created under the aegis of the Council of Europe.

Read more: Saving Putin from justice. Who in Europe is stalling the trial and who is helping Ukraine

Rutte was asked whether he has received clear assurances from the US that Washington will continue prioritising supplies for Ukraine rather than diverting some types of weapons to its own stockpiles.

"Well, the good news is that the flow continues, and that there is a broad understanding on both sides of the ocean that we do have to do 'and/and'. That is, make sure that we refill all our stockpiles, because this is not only a US problem, but also a European problem. We have to ramp up defence industrial production. But at the same time, we have to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to stay in the fight. So, there is a broad agreement on that on both sides of the Atlantic," Rutte said at a press conference on 15 April after a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.

Rutte also said he is optimistic that Ukraine's partners will continue to find the necessary funding to finance purchases of US weapons through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) programme.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the continuing war in the Middle East has led to a major shortage of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defence systems protecting Ukraine's skies.

"We'll not be renewing the general licence on Russian oil, and we will not be renewing the general licence on Iranian oil. Again, that was oil that was on the water prior to 11 March. So all that has been used," Bessent said at a briefing in the White House.

European Pravda notes that on 12 March, the US lifted sanctions on Russian oil that had already been loaded onto tankers at sea at the time. These exemptions were in place until 11 April.

Bessent said Washington does not intend to renew the sanctions waivers on Russian and Iranian oil.

The exemptions for Tehran are set to expire on 19 April.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said earlier that the administration is unlikely to grant a new exemption allowing countries to purchase sanctioned Russian oil as part of any measures to curb high fuel prices.

It was also reported that the US administration has extended an exemption from sanctions, allowing petrol stations operated by Russia's Lukoil outside Russia to continue operating until the end of October.

He also supports the gradual lifting of anti-Russian sanctions and holding a referendum on Slovenia’s withdrawal from NATO.

The election of the leader of the far-right and pro-Russian party Resni.ca as speaker means Slovenia is one step away from a change of power and the possible return of Janez Janša as prime minister.

Read more about the political situation in Slovenia after the elections and the chances of the country maintaining its pro-Ukrainian course in the article by Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor: Has Slovenia tilted towards Moscow? Why the country’s parliament is now led by an outspoken friend of Russia.  

On 22 March, Slovenia held regular parliamentary elections.

They were expected to bring a change of power. For a long time, pollsters had recorded the leadership of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) headed by former prime minister Janez Janša.

However, a scandal involving the wiretapping of his opponents from the Freedom Movement of current Prime Minister Robert Golob, which erupted on the eve of the elections, changed the course of the race.

The ruling party accused Janša of spying, allegedly involving a foreign, Israeli, private intelligence company, Black Cube.

Thus, the 22 March vote produced a sensation – contrary to expectations, the party of the incumbent prime minister took first place, albeit with only a minimal lead over the SDS.

Following the elections, the winning party, and especially its coalition partners, significantly worsened their results and could not form a majority without new allies.

During the election of the parliamentary speaker, it became clear that a majority could instead be formed by Janez Janša with the participation of "friends of Putin".

On 10 April, lawmakers elected a new speaker by secret ballot – far-right populist Zoran Stevanović.

Although the vote was secret, such a result could only have been achieved if, in addition to the five votes from Stevanović’s party, deputies from Janša’s SDS (28), the New Slovenia – Christian Democrats bloc (9) and the Democrats party (6) also supported him.

The situational alliance of Janez Janša, who positions himself as a friend of Ukraine, with Stevanović’s pro-Russian Resni.ca party should not be surprising.

It should be remembered that for political expediency, Janša has previously taken steps that contradicted his views.

Another question is whether the smallest coalition partner will be able to influence the course of a potential government. There is also speculation about forming a right-wing minority government without Resni.ca  in exchange for the speaker’s post, they would only support Janša’s appointment.

Such a scenario somewhat reduces the risks of a turn towards Russia, but does not eliminate them entirely.

At the very least, the situation means that the new Slovenian speaker will actively promote Russian narratives, undermining European unity.

Moreover, the effective "golden share" that Resni.ca would hold could encourage them to pressure the new government to adjust foreign policy.

However, the controversial statements of the newly elected speaker about visiting Moscow could have the opposite effect.

Prime Minister Robert Golob said he is not stopping coalition negotiations and still hopes to win over the center-right Democrats party and its leader Anže Logar.

Observers suggest that a coalition with the center-left Golob may be more natural for Logar than one with Janša.

In addition, Zoran Stevanović’s statements increase the likelihood of this scenario, as they show that a Janša government could be highly unstable and dependent on populists.