Overview
- Final approval of the EU loan is stalled after Budapest withheld consent, with Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó tying support to the resumption of oil transit to Hungary.
- Russia’s Jan. 27 strikes halted flows on the Druzhba route through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia, which both still rely on the pipeline under EU exemptions.
- Hungary and Slovakia have stopped diesel exports to Ukraine and are seeking alternatives via Croatia’s Adria system, but Zagreb says it will not transport Russian-origin crude.
- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to halt emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine from Feb. 23 unless oil transit resumes, while Viktor Orbán warned Hungary could do the same.
- Ukraine says inspections and repairs are under way and proposes using the Odesa–Brody pipeline or maritime transshipment for non-Russian oil, as Brussels notes both countries hold roughly 90 days of reserves.