BUDAPEST, March 12, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A row between Ukraine and Hungary over a pipeline carrying Russian oil appeared to deepen Wednesday when Budapest said it had dispatched a delegation for talks, only for Kyiv to deny the group had any official status.

Hungary and neighbouring Slovakia accuse Kyiv of deliberately delaying reopening the Druzhba pipeline pumping Russian oil to the two landlocked states. Ukraine says the pipeline was damaged by Russian strikes in January.

Hungary's Energy Minister Gabor Czepek said the group, including representatives from Slovakia, would aim to hold talks on reopening Druzhba.

It was also "tasked with carrying out a fact-finding mission regarding the pipeline" to assess its condition and "create the conditions necessary for its reactivation", he said.

Kyiv said it was aware that a group of Hungarians had crossed the border but stressed there was no plan for talks with officials.

"It's a private trip. We didn't invite them," Ukrainian presidential official Sergiy Kyslytsya said during a meeting attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reporters, including AFP journalists.

Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy told reporters that the "group does not have any official status or any scheduled official meetings, so it is clearly incorrect to call them a delegation".

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest had notified Ukraine of the visit in advance via an "official diplomatic note".

But a Ukrainian diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, shared a letter appearing to show Kyiv had rejected the dates the Hungarian side had proposed.

Zelensky said last week it could take four to six weeks to make the pipeline operational again.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has urged the European Union to suspend sanctions on Russian oil and gas to counter rising prices since the Middle East war erupted.

The nationalist leader, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has ramped up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of a closely fought parliamentary election in Hungary on April 12.

Relations hit a new low last week when Hungary arrested seven Ukrainian state bank employees in a money-laundering probe and seized $80 million of cash and nine gold bars they were transporting from Austria.

Ukraine accused Hungary of kidnapping them and threatened to hit back with sanctions.