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European Union leaders offered Ukraine technical support and funding to repair a damaged oil pipeline that is meant to carry Russian crude to Hungary, seeking to break the deadlock between the bloc and Budapest over an EU aid package for Ukraine. European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that Ukraine has welcomed and accepted the offer, and that European experts would be available immediately.
The offer centers on the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory and was damaged during a period when Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia were halted in January. Ukrainian officials said the damage was caused by Russian drone attacks.
Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has framed the pipeline disruption as a political dispute between Budapest and Kyiv. He has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of deliberately holding up oil supplies, while Zelenskyy denies the allegation.
Orban has used those concerns to block EU financial assistance. He vetoed a major 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) EU loan intended to cover Ukraine’s military and economic needs for two years, according to the report.
EU officials said the pipeline repair package is designed to persuade Hungary to lift its veto. In a statement Tuesday, Costa and von der Leyen said the EU “has offered Ukraine technical support and funding” to fix the pipeline, a formulation they also linked to a potential path to ending the “current blockage.”
Zelenskyy, for his part, wrote that Ukraine is “undertaking all possible efforts to repair the damage and restore operations.” Costa and von der Leyen also wrote to Zelenskyy on Monday, saying they hoped the EU’s offer of funding and technical help could “pave the way for overcoming the current blockage” and ensure “for the rapid repair of the pipeline.”
Despite Ukraine’s acceptance of the EU’s offer, Orban said Hungary would keep blocking the loan. “If there’s no oil, there’s no money,” Orban said in a video posted to social media, adding that if Zelenskyy wants the funds from Brussels, he needs to open the Druzhba oil pipeline.
Orban also said he believes Ukraine is deliberately holding up oil flows to influence the balance of power ahead of Hungarian elections next month, but the report said he provided no evidence for that claim. The EU leaders have said Orban agreed to the loan during a summit in December and then reneged on that deal, and they have accused him of undermining the EU principle of “sincere cooperation” among member states.
The broader energy backdrop to the conflict includes the way Hungary’s position differs from most of the EU. The EU largely weaned itself off Russian oil and natural gas after Russia used the bloc’s dependence as leverage in 2022, but Hungary and Slovakia received exemptions to keep using Russian oil because they are landlocked and have limited alternative supply access.
Within that setting, EU officials are also navigating how the pipeline dispute links to other policy areas, including additional sanctions. In previous actions described in reporting around the same issue, Hungary has also blocked new rounds of EU sanctions on Russia, tying enforcement of the Kremlin-related measures to the status of energy deliveries.
At the center of this latest escalation remains a question of whether technical repairs and funding can address the political conditions behind Hungary’s veto. The EU leaders’ decision to offer assistance directly to restore pipeline operations underscores that the bloc’s unity on Ukraine depends not only on military aid decisions but also on the infrastructure and energy flows that influence member-state leverage.