EU to help reopen blocked oil pipeline in Ukraine

BRUSSELS (AFP) — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the bloc will help reopen a damaged pipeline that pumps Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary — after Budapest accused Kyiv of stalling on repairs in an escalating row.

Tensions have ratcheted up between the neighbors over the pipeline, with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban invoking the issue to block a vital 90-billion-euro ($104-billion) loan to Kyiv as well as a fresh round of sanctions on Russia.

Writing to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, von der Leyen and European Council head Antonio Costa voiced hope the pipeline’s “rapid repair” would allow the bloc to move forward “in a timely manner” with both the EU loan and sanctions package.

“The EU has offered Ukraine technical support and funding. The Ukrainians have welcomed and accepted this offer,” she said in a statement, released along with the letter and Zelenskyy’s reply.

“European experts are available immediately,” she said.

Landlocked Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying reopening the Druzhba pipeline, which Kyiv says was damaged by Russian strikes in January.

Ukraine had meanwhile been resisting the offer of EU help to get oil flowing again — with Zelenskyy calling it “blackmail” to link the pipeline issue with support for its war effort.

But the letters published Tuesday showed the Ukrainian leader relenting, as the EU dialed up the pressure for a resolution.

Zelenskyy told the EU chiefs he accepted the “necessary technical support and funding to be able to conclude the repair work” on the pipeline, and would invite the chief of Ukraine’s state oil and gas firm Naftogaz to “take this forward” with the EU.

Regarding the Ukraine loan, spokesperson Paula Pinho said the European Commission was now “confident that we could see some progress in these discussions soon” — and “ideally” before a summit of EU leaders on Thursday.

“Enough of this theater — reopen the Druzhba oil pipeline today,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a Facebook video in response to von der Leyen’s announcement.

The war in the Middle East has brought the issue of oil deliveries into sharp focus, with countries worldwide looking for ways to release more supplies onto the market to ease prices.

Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the EU, has urged the 27-nation bloc to suspend sanctions on Russian oil and gas to counter rising prices.

The pipeline dispute also came as the nationalist Hungarian leader ramps up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of closely fought elections on April 12.

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By Agence France-Presse