Ukraine has accepted the European Union's offer of technical and financial support to resume oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia through the damaged Drujba pipeline, European Council President Antonio Costa said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
In a letter to the EU, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that repair work on the pipeline is almost complete and that the pumping station will be back in operation in about a month and a half, “in the absence of further attacks from Russia”.
Hungary announced on Monday that it will continue to block a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia as long as oil flows through the Drujba pipeline remain suspended.
Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia via the Drujba pipeline have been stopped since the end of January.
Kiev claims that pipeline infrastructure in western Ukraine was hit by a Russian attack, while Slovakia and Hungary blame Ukraine for prolonging the outage.
“Allegations that Ukraine is deliberately obstructing the transportation of oil through the Drujba pipeline are unfounded,” Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his letter to Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In a letter addressed to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the two European leaders indicated that the resumption of oil flows through Ukraine is of major importance for maintaining market stability and would be in line with Ukraine's contractual obligations.
They also reaffirmed their commitment to the previously announced plan to phase out all remaining Russian oil imports by the end of 2027.
