Dmitry Peskov says Brussels would find ways to bypass member-state vetoes

The EU will find ways to dispense more funds for Ukraine regardless of Hungary's veto power, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. He made the remarks after the opposition Tisza party defeated Hungary's longtime prime minister, Viktor Orban, in a high-stakes parliamentary election.

While Orban had blocked a $106 billion loan package for Ukraine, Tisza leader Peter Magyar campaigned on repairing relations with the EU and signaled that Budapest would drop its opposition to aid for Kiev. Ukraine's European backers, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, openly celebrated Magyar's victory.

In a news segment aired on Sunday, Russia 1 journalist Pavel Zarubin asked Peskov whether Russia-EU relations could deteriorate further following Orban's defeat. "No, they can't get any worse than now," Peskov replied.

"One way or another, the EU would have found a way to unblock the funds, with or without Orban. We should have no illusions about it," he added.

Since the conflict with Russia broke out in 2022, Kiev has received roughly $197 billion in financial and military aid from the EU.

A longstanding critic of the EU's decision-making process, Orban has argued that military aid to Ukraine has pushed the bloc closer to an open war with Russia, while the ban on energy imports from Russia has hurt member states economically.

Von der Leyen has urged using the "momentum" from the Hungarian elections to begin reforms aimed at reducing member states' veto power on issues such as loans for Ukraine. "Moving to qualified majority voting in foreign policy is an important way to avoid systemic blockages, as we have seen in the past," she said.

In February, Hungary sued the EU over its decision to phase out energy supplies from Russia. Slovakia has said it will formally join the lawsuit this week. Both countries argue that the EU has no right to override their opposition to sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine conflict.