Budapest (AFP) - Hungary will expel seven detained Ukrainians, the government said Friday, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traded threats in a row over stalled Russian oil supplies.

Hungary accuses Ukraine of deliberately delaying the reopening of a key pipeline that it and neighbouring Slovakia depend on for oil supplies, which Kyiv says was damaged by Russian strikes in January.

The countries’ row escalated on Friday as Ukraine accused Hungary of kidnapping seven of its citizens, whom Hungarian authorities said they were investigating on money-laundering charges.

Orban meanwhile said he would use “every means” to pressure Ukraine over the Russian oil.

A day earlier, Zelensky appeared to issue a direct threat against Orban, saying Ukraine’s armed forces would “talk to him in their own language” – a statement condemned by Hungary and the European Union, of which it is a member.

- Stacks of cash -

Early Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga accused Hungary of taking “hostage” a group of Ukrainian bank employees transporting $40 million, 35 million euros and nine kilogrammes (317 ounces) of gold through the country.

Hungary’s National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) said it had detained seven Ukrainian citizens, including a former Ukrainian secret service general, and two armoured cash-transport vehicles on Thursday.

NAV “is conducting criminal proceedings on suspicion of money laundering”, it said in a statement.

Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said those detained would be expelled.

The government also released footage on social media showing what it said was the arrest of the Ukrainians and stacks of cash seized.

Ukraine summoned Hungary’s charge d’affaires over what it called the “unlawful” detentions, and urged its citizens to avoid travel to Hungary, citing “the inability to guarantee their safety amid the arbitrary actions of the Hungarian authorities”.

Sybiga on X slammed “this state banditism”, adding that Ukraine reserved “the right to take appropriate action, including initiating sanctions and other restrictive measures”.

- ‘Fear-mongering’ -

In a radio interview earlier Friday, Orban said until the oil delivery issue was resolved, Hungary “will use every step and every means at our disposal”, including stopping “things passing through Hungary, things that are important to Ukraine”.

Relations between the two neighbours were already strained by Orban’s sustaining ties with Russia despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and his opposition to military aid for Kyiv.

But ties deteriorated further after the Hungarian premier ramped up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of a closely fought parliamentary election set for April 12.

Orban has been stalling a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) EU loan to the war-torn country and a new round of sanctions on Russia, demanding that Kyiv first reopen the Druzhba pipeline, whose alleged damages he disputes.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest on Friday to protest what they called an oil blockade, carrying Hungarian flags and posters including one that read “Ukraine = mafia state”, according to an AFP photographer.

The demonstration was organised by a pro-Orban group.

Zelensky said on Thursday the pipeline can only be made operational after another four to six weeks, although he would personally prefer not to restore transit.

“We hope that one person in the European Union will not block the 90 billion (euros)… Otherwise we will give this person’s address to our Armed Forces, to our guys. Let them call him and talk to him in their own language,” Zelensky said.

The European Union slammed the apparent threat as “not acceptable”, denouncing “inflammatory rhetoric” on all sides and calling for calm.

In his state radio interview, Orban said he would not give in, “not even if they blackmail me, not even if they threaten my life”.

Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar at a campaign rally said his party – seen ahead in polls – rejects Zelensky’s threats, while also condemning Orban for his “incitement, threats and fear-mongering”.

The State Savings Bank of Ukraine, or Oschadbank, said the bank staff were transporting the cash and gold between Raiffeisen Bank Austria and Oschadbank Ukraine in a “routine trip”.

Ukraine’s central bank said it would send a team to Budapest “to clarify circumstances”.

burs-ros-jza/jhb