EU ambassadors approve a €90 billion loan for Kyiv and sanctions against Moscow. Zelenskyy: “A positive sign”

Brussels – The Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian oil via Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia, and whose damage in January led to a halt in supplies and the ensuing clash between Budapest and Kyiv, resumed operations this morning (22 April) shortly after 11.30 am. Meanwhile, in Brussels, with the Hungarian veto lifted, the ambassadors of the 27 EU member states approved the €90 billion loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia. 

The announcement that the pipeline is back in operation was made by the Hungarian Minister for European Affairs, Janos Boka. “We have secured the resumption of crude oil transport via the Druzhba pipeline. According to the information available to us, crude oil transport along the Druzhba pipeline from Belarus to Ukraine resumed today at 11.35 am. Based on calculations, the oil could reach Hungarian territory as early as today, by tomorrow morning at the latest,” the minister explained. However, yesterday the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, had announced that, “as agreed in communication with the European Union, Ukraine has completed repair work on the section of the Druzhba pipeline damaged by a Russian attack” and that “the pipeline can resume operations.” 

The green light had been expected and was in the air; as early as yesterday, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, had said she expected positive news from today’s meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper), the Committee of Permanent Representatives, comprising the EU Member States’ ambassadors. And so it was. Shortly after Boka’s announcement, at 13:00, the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU announced the green light, adding that both measures will now be approved via a written procedure with a deadline of tomorrow afternoon. “Today, both the €90 billion loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions were placed on the agenda of the EU ambassadors and were approved at Coreper level,” said a spokesperson for the presidency. The measures “will now proceed to a written procedure for their final adoption by the Council.” In fact, provided no objections are raised by any Member State by tomorrow, the written procedure will be concluded tomorrow afternoon, at which point both measures may be considered approved. 

Zelensky was the first to celebrate the outcome. “The implementation of our agreement with the European Union to release a €90 billion aid package for Ukraine over two years is now effectively underway, as is a new package of sanctions against Russia over this war. The release of funds is the right signal in the current circumstances. Russia must end its war. And incentives for this can only arise when both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia are sufficient,” said the Ukrainian president.