“Both countries, which had expressed some reservations on these two issues, tied their support to the start of oil deliveries to their countries,” Macinka told Czech journalists in Luxembourg.
“So if that is confirmed and supplies resume, that obstacle will disappear.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine has finished repairs on a section of the Druzhba pipeline damaged by a Russian strike and that the pipeline could return to service. Following this, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the loan program would be approved on April 22.
Since late January, Russian oil has not flowed through the
Druzhba pipeline, and Hungary used that disruption to block the EU loan to
Ukraine. Budapest and Bratislava also withheld support for the new sanctions
package against Russia.