Ukraine launches Carpathian Eight summit in Bukovel; Hungary declines, railway deal and Naftogaz–MOL row follow

Why it matters

The C8 is Ukraine's first attempt to anchor a regional cooperation format centered on the Carpathian area, moving beyond bilateral ties into a multilateral platform spanning security, energy, logistics and cross-border economy. It is the first major Ukraine-focused European regional format launched under Péter Magyar's Hungarian government and the first formal Hungarian refusal to join such a format. The summit produced concrete deliverables — a Railway Coalition supporting Ukrzaliznytsia, an EBRD energy-resilience agreement worth €130 million, and roughly $100 million in URTF trust-fund financing for locomotives — that directly address wartime damage to Ukrainian rail. The Naftogaz–MOL memorandum, rejected by Magyar on Budapest's behalf, signals that Ukraine–Hungary friction persists even after the transition from Viktor Orbán. A final declaration by six of the eight invited states gives the format political weight despite Hungary's absence.

What happened

On September 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the Carpathian Eight (C8), a new cooperation format uniting Ukraine with Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria and Hungary, alongside the EU. The two-day summit took place on September 18–19 at the Bukovel resort and gathered the Ukrainian president, top officials of the Office of the President, nearly the entire Ukrainian government, international partners from the invited states, and Ukrainian and foreign business. Working sessions covered security, energy, logistics, cross-border economic cooperation and community support, with cooperation envisaged at both the country and regional levels. A final declaration was adopted by Ukraine, Austria, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.

Participants agreed to create a Railway Coalition alongside the existing Coalition of the Willing and Coalition of Capabilities, aimed at supporting Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways). Minister of Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport Mykola Kalashnyk said roughly $100 million from the URTF trust fund is earmarked to purchase used locomotives on foreign markets and that a principled agreement was reached with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to allocate €130 million under UZ Energy for the railway's critical needs and energy resilience, with final agreements planned by the end of September. He also noted that 533 Ukrzaliznytsia locomotives and 75 private-industrial locomotives have been damaged since the start of the full-scale invasion. Investment and trade agreements worth about €1 billion were prepared during the economic part of the summit.

Hungary declined Ukraine's invitation to join C8. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar told parliament on September 21 that Budapest received but refused the invitation, citing unspecified "good reasons," and added that Hungary "is not participating" in the format. Hungary was nonetheless represented at the summit by its deputy ambassador to Kyiv. On September 20, Ukraine's state-owned Naftogaz group announced a memorandum with Hungary's MOL on constructing oil-product storage facilities near the border on Hungarian territory, an agreement reached at the Carpathian Economic Forum within C8. Magyar publicly rejected the deal, saying MOL had negotiated without the Hungarian government's consent and that no Ukrainian oil-storage facility would be built in Hungary; he said he had sent MOL CEO Zsolt Hernádi an SMS calling the company's actions "entirely unacceptable."

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian coverage frames C8 as a near-full-cabinet gathering plus international partners and business, and presents the format as a Ukraine-initiated, Ukraine-led initiative that positions Kyiv as an initiator rather than merely an applicant for EU funding. Outlets foreground concrete economic deliverables — the Railway Coalition, the $100 million URTF locomotive purchase, the €130 million EBRD UZ Energy agreement and roughly €1 billion in prepared investment and trade deals. Hungary's absence is noted largely as a procedural point rather than a substantive blow to the format, and the Naftogaz–MOL memorandum is presented as a positive economic outcome. Reports situate the results within wartime-resilience language, citing locomotive damage figures (533 + 75) and the need for energy resilience of the railway and cross-border community support.

Where reporting differs

Sources diverge on Hungary's status at the C8 summit. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated that Hungary received and declined Ukraine's invitation to join C8, citing unspecified "good reasons," and that Hungary "is not participating" in the format; Hungary was represented at the summit only by its deputy ambassador to Kyiv. Other reporting and summit-organizer lists nonetheless included Hungary among participating countries and partners present.

Sources also disagree on the Naftogaz–MOL oil-storage memorandum. The Ukrainian side and Naftogaz describe it as a binding agreement reached at the Carpathian Economic Forum within C8, while Magyar publicly rejected it, stating that MOL acted without the Hungarian government's consent and that no Ukrainian oil-storage facility will be built in Hungary.

Background

Ukraine's rail system has been a wartime logistics backbone. Minister Mykola Kalashnyk said 533 Ukrzaliznytsia locomotives and 75 locomotives belonging to private industrial enterprises have been damaged since the start of the full-scale invasion. The C8 joins other Ukraine-linked international formats already in place — the Coalition of the Willing and the Coalition of Capabilities — with the new Railway Coalition sitting alongside them. Péter Magyar replaced Viktor Orbán as Hungarian prime minister in May 2025. Hungary has continued to purchase Russian energy resources and has raised the position of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia in the context of Ukraine's EU accession; Hungary's Minister of Economy and Energy has said the country can meet its gas needs without Russian supplies until October 2027 and is seeking alternative import routes.