The Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia is ready to resume operations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday, which Kyiv now expects to unlock a €90 billion EU loan after months of tensions.

The suspension of flows after a Russian attack on the pipeline infrastructure in January sparked outrage in European Union members Hungary and Slovakia, which remain reliant on Russian oil imports.

It also caused tensions between Zelenskiy and EU officials, whom he accused of “blackmail” over the pressure to promptly repair what Ukraine described as a severely damaged section of the pipeline.

Kyiv strongly denied accusations by Budapest and Bratislava that it was deliberately dragging its feet over the repairs.

“As agreed in communication with the European Union, Ukraine has completed repair work on the section of the Druzhba oil pipeline that was damaged by a Russian strike,” Zelenskiy said on X. “The pipeline can resume operation.”

Speaking in his nightly video address, the president was even more forthright.

“There can now be no grounds for blocking it,” he said, referring to the loan.

“The European Union asked Ukraine to repair the Druzhba oil pipeline, which the Russians had damaged. We have repaired it. We hope that the European Union will also implement the agreements.”

Hungary’s government threatened to cut energy aid to Ukraine in response, and outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed the two-year EU loan after it was already agreed upon by the European Council.

BUDAPEST BLOCKS FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Under pressure from the European officials, Ukraine has repeatedly said it was running repairs as fast as possible and promised to finish them by the end of this month.

“Thank you President @ZelenskyyUa for delivering, as agreed: repairing the Druzhba pipeline and restoring its operation,” European Council President Antonio Costa said on X.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday, after a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Luxembourg, that she expected a positive decision on the €90 billion loan within the next 24 hours.

The EU is likely to make the loan’s first disbursement at the end of May or in early June, European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said, noting that Ukraine’s funding needs for 2026 were assured.

ZELENSKIY PRESSES FOR LOAN APPROVAL

Announcing the completion of the repairs, Zelenskiy said he had spoken with Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday and urged EU officials to press ahead with the loan’s approval, saying Ukraine had delivered on what “was requested by the European Union”.

“We connect this with the unblocking of the European support package for Ukraine,” he said.

Ukraine’s state gas and oil company Naftogaz declined to say when oil flows would resume through the pipeline.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia was technically ready to restart pumping oil through the pipeline.

Also on Tuesday, industry sources told Reuters that Russia planned to stop sending Kazakh oil to Germany via a separate spur of Druzhba from May 1.

Orban had made the pipeline suspension an important part of his failed political campaign, accusing Ukraine of trying to sabotage his re-election. The election’s winner, Peter Magyar, called on Monday for Ukraine to reopen Druzhba as soon as it was functional, and for Russia to resume oil shipments to Hungary.

Transit through the pipeline hit a ten-year low of 9.7 million tonnes last year, with Slovakia receiving 4.9 million tonnes and Hungary 4.35 million, according to Kyiv-based oil consultancy ExPro.

Zelenskiy has repeatedly called on Europe to diversify energy supplies and not resume flows via Druzhba.

“No one can currently guarantee that Russia will not repeat attacks on the pipeline infrastructure,” he said on Tuesday.