Ukraine restarts Russian oil pipeline to Europe
Ukraine has resumed pumping Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline after completing repairs on a section damaged in a Russian attack in January. The Soviet era pipeline has been at the centre of a standoff between Ukraine and the European Union on one side and Hungary and Slovakia on the other, as both EU members continue to import Russian crude via the route despite the ongoing war. Kyiv hopes that restoring flows will clear the final obstacle to unlocking tens of billions of euros in EU financial support that had been held up by Hungary’s outgoing nationalist leader Viktor Orban. An energy industry source in Ukraine told AFP that “oil transit was launched and pumping began” on Wednesday. Hungarian energy company MOL said it expects the first shipments to arrive in Hungary and Slovakia by Thursday […]
