Brussels– EU envoys gathered on Wednesday cautiously optimistic that a huge debt The deal to help meet Ukraine’s military and financial needs for the next two years is close to being approved after months of stalemate.
Envoys meeting in Brussels to assess whether Hungary could lift its veto 90 billion euro ($106 billion) loan packageOriginally agreed in December, Ukraine desperately needs to pursue devastated by war Economy and help keep Russian forces at bay.
Hungary has stressed that it should begin to meet Russian oil supply Before he unblocked the funds, again through Ukraine.
Hungary and Slovakia, which both depend on Russian oil to meet their energy needs, have accused Ukraine of failing to repair damaged pipeline Who sends oil. Ukraine and most of its European supporters oppose Russian oil imports that have helped finance President Vladimir Putin’s war, now in its fifth year.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine had now completed repairs on the Druzhba pipeline. In a post on social media he said it had been “damaged by the Russian attack” but “the pipeline can resume operations.”
Outgoing Prime Minister of Hungary viktor orban has indicated it will approve Ukraine’s loan only if oil flows resume, so envoys are waiting for a clear signal from Budapest that its veto will be lifted. Orban, who has repeatedly blocked EU aid to Ukraine, lost an election on April 12 and will be replaced by pro-European opposition leaders peter magyar.
Cyprus, which currently holds The rotating presidency of the EU launched a written procedure to approve the final piece of the puzzle in the loan package. For this, Hungary or any other objecting country will have to explain in writing why they oppose it.
Such processes are often left open for 24 hours, and Cyprus’ president said final approval could come as soon as Thursday, when EU leaders gather for a summit in Cyprus.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas was reluctant to speculate on the outcome on Tuesday. “We expect an agreement within 24 hours, so I don’t want to postpone it,” she said.
This was originally the intention of the 27-nation European Union. Use frozen Russian assets As collateral for the loan. But that option was blocked by Belgium, where most of the seized assets are held.
In December, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia agreed not to stop Unless all three countries participate in the scheme, their EU partners are prevented from borrowing money on international markets.
but orban Angry The other 24 countries later withdrew from that agreement over the pipeline dispute and as the campaign heated up ahead of the election they lost in landslide.
In an address on Tuesday, Zelensky said “there can no longer be any grounds for blocking” the loans. “The EU asked Ukraine to repair the Druzhba oil pipeline, which was destroyed by Russia. We have repaired it.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha told reporters that Ukraine has done its job. “We have completed everything – a date is (set), and the infrastructure has been repaired.”
The European Union is also trying to launch a new effort from February sanctions against russiaWhich has been blocked by Hungary and Slovakia. These measures may take longer to get approved than loans.
Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said on Tuesday that his country would agree only if “Russian oil will arrive in Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline. I can say that we have no such information yet.”
Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said Slovakia expected oil supplies to resume on Thursday. Sakova said oil began re-entering the Druzhba pipeline on Wednesday, according to information from Ukrtransnaft, the company that operates the pipeline on Ukrainian territory.
___
Associated Press journalists Hanna Arhirova in Kiev and Karel Janíček in Prague contributed to this report.
