Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes statements as he arrives for the EU Summit in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, Thursday, April 23, 2026.
Petros Karadjias/AP
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Petros Karadjias/AP
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Thursday accredited a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) mortgage bundle to assist Ukraine meet its financial and army wants for 2 years after oil started flowing via a key pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia, ending months of political impasse.
The EU additionally accredited a brand new raft of sanctions in opposition to Russia over its battle on Ukraine. The measures had been ready early this yr and had been set to be introduced in February to mark the fourth anniversary of the battle, however Hungary and Slovakia opposed the transfer.
Hungary and Slovakia have been locked in a feud with Ukraine since Russian oil deliveries to the 2 EU nations had been halted in January after a pipeline was broken. Ukrainian officers blamed the injury on Russian drone assaults. Each nations confirmed Thursday that deliveries have resumed.
Ukraine desperately wants the mortgage bundle to prop up its war-ravaged economic system and assist hold Russian forces at bay. Hungary angered its EU companions by reneging on a December deal to supply the funds. The loans are anticipated to be out there in coming weeks and months.
“Promised, delivered, implemented,” European Council President António Costa posted on social media. Just a few hours later, as he arrived to chair a summit of EU leaders in Cyprus, Costa instructed reporters that the precedence now have to be to advance Ukraine’s quest to hitch the bloc.
Standing alongside him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his European companions for his or her help. “We will work to make sure the funds are delivered as soon as possible,” he mentioned. “This will strengthen, of course first of all our army, Ukrainian forces, and allow us to boost production.”
Pipeline breakthrough
The political greenlight for the mortgage bundle got here after Russian oil started flowing to Hungary and Slovakia once more via the Druzhba pipeline that crosses Ukraine. Populist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico welcomed that growth as “good news.”
“Let’s hope a serious relation between Ukraine and the European Union has been established,” Fico mentioned.
FILE – A basic view of a pumping station on the finish of the Druzhba oil pipeline within the east German refinery PCK in Schwedt, Jan. 10, 2007.
Sven Kaestner/AP
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Sven Kaestner/AP
Hungarian vitality group MOL mentioned it had “received crude oil at the Fényeslitke and Budkovce pumping stations earlier Thursday. Crude oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline system have thus resumed to Hungary and Slovakia after a hiatus of nearly three months.”
Ukraine and most of its European backers oppose imports of Russian oil which have helped to fund Russian President Vladimir Putin’s battle in opposition to Ukraine, now in its fifth yr. However not like the remainder of the European Union, Hungary and Slovakia nonetheless depend upon Russia for his or her vitality wants.
Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was lately defeated in an election, had accused Ukraine of intentionally delaying repairs — an allegation that Zelenskyy denied.
Fico mentioned Thursday he nonetheless did not imagine the pipeline was broken in any respect and alleged that the pipeline and oil “were used in the current geopolitical battle.”
One other EU voting hijack
The row has raised but extra troubling questions on decision-making within the EU, which may usually be held hostage to nationwide pursuits when unanimous votes are required. A number of prime officers have in current months known as for extra majority voting.
The 27-nation bloc had initially meant to make use of frozen Russian belongings as collateral for the mortgage. However that choice was blocked by Belgium, the place the majority of the frozen belongings are held.
In December, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia agreed to not cease their EU companions from borrowing the cash on worldwide markets so long as the three nations didn’t have to participate within the scheme.
However Orbán, who has repeatedly blocked EU assist to Ukraine, angered the opposite 24 nations by later reneging on that deal over the pipeline dispute and as campaigning heated up forward of the April 12 election that he misplaced in a landslide.
Extra sanctions on Russia
The EU has additionally been making an attempt since February to push via a brand new raft of sanctions in opposition to Russia to undermine its battle effort, however Hungary and Slovakia had been additionally blocking these measures over the oil feud.
Greater than 40 ships believed to be a part of Russia’s shadow fleet illicitly transporting oil had been focused.
Oil income is the linchpin of Russia’s economic system, permitting Putin to pour cash into the armed forces with out worsening inflation for on a regular basis individuals and avoiding a forex collapse.
Plenty of banks had been focused, and a ban was imposed on Europeans utilizing Russian crypto forex.
Asset freezes had been slapped on round 60 extra “entities” — usually corporations, authorities companies, banks or different organizations — including to a rising record of greater than 2,600 Russian officers and entities already underneath sanctions, together with Putin, his political associates, oligarchs, and dozens of lawmakers.
