Фото: t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Druzhba oil pipeline would be repaired during the spring. It has been out of operation since January following infrastructure damage caused by a Russian strike. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accused Ukraine of failing to resume the pipeline’s operation for political reasons and has used the issue in his election campaign, while also blocking European funding for Kyiv.
“If the issue of European financing in exchange for the possibility of oil supplies continues to be raised, then we have said when we will repair the Druzhba oil pipeline. And responsibility for supplies will lie with the Europeans. We will repair it, because that is the agreement. I told them that we will finish this spring. A great deal of work has already been done”, Zelenskyy said, according to Ukrinform.
According to him, it is impossible to restore the destroyed reserves, so the focus is only on resuming transit with all the associated risks.
“And all the more so because we do not know whether the Russians will refrain from new strikes”, he added.
Zelenskyy also confirmed that partners had asked him to refrain from strikes on Russian oil infrastructure while the war in the Middle East continues. He did not specify who had made the request.
“We were asked at different levels, from political to military leadership. During the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, partners sent different signals to different countries depending on what each of them could do. Some were asked to increase production, others to expand transit capacity, and we were asked to reduce strikes, meaning our responses to Russian attacks. Because they believed this would affect energy prices”, Zelenskyy explained.