The transit of Russian oil to Hungarian and Slovak refineries has been stopped since the end of January, which has caused sharp diplomatic tension between Kyiv and Budapest.
The Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil to Hungary, will be back in operation by the end of April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday. TASR informs about it based on the AFP report.
- According to Volodymyr Zelenský, the Druzhba pipeline should be operational again by April.
- Russian oil has not flowed through Druzhba to Hungary and Slovakia since January.
- Budapest vetoed a European loan to Ukraine due to the stopped supplies of Russian oil.
Zelenskyj is ready to meet Péter Magyar
“As for the pipeline, as we promised, it will be repaired by the end of April. Not completely, but enough to make it work,” Zelenskyy said in Berlin at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“We firmly believe that it will be in line with other commitments of the EU countries, especially Hungary, which blocked some important decisions for us,” the Ukrainian president added, adding that he is ready to meet with the winner of the parliamentary elections in Hungary, Péter Magyar.
Conflict over the oil pipeline
Russian oil has not flowed through the Druzhba pipeline to oil refineries in Hungary and Slovakia since January 27. Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary insists that the pipeline is operational and that Ukraine refuses to resume oil transit for purely political reasons.
Within the EU, Budapest vetoed a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine and warned that it would block any decisions by Brussels that would benefit Ukraine. In this context, Hungary refused to sign the 20th package of EU anti-Russian sanctions.
In the elections in Hungary on Sunday (April 12), the opposition party Tisza won convincingly. Its leader, Péter Magyar, declared that he would work to restore Hungary’s full membership in the EU and NATO.
