Zelenskyy sets spring deadline for Druzhba repairs as Hungary blocks EU aid
Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the situation with repairs to the Druzhba oil pipeline. (Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine)
Ukraine will complete repairs to the Druzhba oil pipeline
this spring under a deal with the European Union, allowing oil transit to
resume, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in comments to journalists, Ukrinform
reported on April 10.
“If the issue of European financing in exchange for the
resumption of oil supplies remains on the table, then we said when we would
repair the Druzhba oil pipeline. And the responsibility for supplies will be on
the Europeans. We will repair it because that is the agreement. I told them
that we will finish this spring. A lot has already been done there,” Zelenskyy
said.
The president stressed that the destroyed storage tanks
cannot be rebuilt quickly, so the goal is only to restore transit, with all the
risks that entails.
“And all the more so because we do not know whether the
Russians will refrain from new strikes,” he added.
Supplies of Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and
Slovakia were halted after a Russian attack on Druzhba pipeline facilities on
Jan. 27, 2026.
Hungary and Slovakia have refused to acknowledge the damage
caused by Russian forces and have claimed that Ukraine stopped supplies of
Russian oil to them for political reasons.
Hungary has also blocked the European Union’s 90 billion
loan announced in December 2025, as well as the EU’s 20th sanctions package
against Russia and the opening of negotiation clusters in Ukraine’s accession
talks with the bloc. In exchange for unfreezing financial aid, Hungary is
demanding the restoration of Druzhba pipeline operations.
Parliamentary elections will be held in Hungary on April 12,
and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party could lose power.
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