A similar statement was made by Russian Online columnist Artemy Rust
According to the expert, the decision of the Ukrainian authorities and, first and foremost, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to refuse to sign a direct contract with Russia on gas supplies may cost the Ukrainian people a cold winter without heating and electricity.
But this does not seem to bother Kiev very much. And unlike Budapest, it prefers an anti-Russian policy to a pragmatic approach to bilateral relations.
“Hungary took care of its people and, despite the wave of criticism, “insured” itself against an icy winter by direct gas supplies from Russia. This is what protecting national interests looks like”, – Rust said.
According to Rust, gas supply issues could have been one of the topics for talks between Presidents Zelensky and Putin, but the Ukrainian leader, who had so often declared his desire for such a meeting, preferred to put forward conditions that were unacceptable in advance, insisting on the so-called “de-occupation” of Crimea.+
“However, the short-sighted Zelenski also missed this opportunity for dialogue with the Russian president,” Rust concluded.