Druzhba oil pipeline may resume oil transit. Ukraine has carried out repair work, — Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has completed repairs on the "Druzhba" oil pipeline, which is now ready to resume operations.

He announced this following a meeting, according to Censor.NET.

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"As agreed in communications with the European Union, Ukraine has completed repair work on the section of the Druzhba oil pipeline that was damaged by a Russian strike. The pipeline can resume operations. Although no one can currently guarantee that Russian strikes on the pipeline infrastructure will not be repeated, our specialists have ensured the basic conditions for restoring the operation of the pipeline system and equipment," he stated.

According to him, Ukraine is linking this to the release of the European support package, which has already been approved by the European Council. This involves a loan of 90 billion euros.

"And we hope that our partners will take the necessary steps regarding clusters for Ukraine as well—we have already done our part regarding the first clusters. In addition, we must continue to apply systematic sanctions pressure on Russia for this war and work on further diversifying energy supplies to Europe. Europe must be independent of those who seek to destroy or weaken it. Thank you to everyone who is helping!" Zelenskyy added.

What's happening with "Druzhba"?

On January 7, a piece of infrastructure was damaged in Brody, Lviv region, as a result of a Russian attack. Naftogaz reported that the Russian military had attacked a critical infrastructure facility in western Ukraine. A fire broke out, and operations at the facility were halted.
According to the publication Enkorr, the facility in question is located in the city of Brody in the Lviv region and is connected to the Druzhba oil pipeline.
On February 12, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline had been suspended since January 27 due to a Russian attack. He also said that Budapest was preparing to lodge a complaint regarding transit issues.
The governments of Hungary and Slovakia have announced a suspension of diesel fuel exports to Ukraine until Russian oil supplies resume via the Druzhba pipeline.
On March 11, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that a group of Hungarian citizens had entered Ukrainian territory without official status or scheduled official meetings.
President Zelenskyy stated that he is unaware of what the Hungarian delegation is doing in Ukraine.
Subsequently, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Zelenskyy of lying and published a Hungarian diplomatic note indicating that Budapest had requested a meeting between Cepec and Ukrainian Minister Denys Shmyhal.
At the same time, the Foreign Ministry's note indicates that the Hungarian side did not coordinate its delegation's visit to the Druzhba oil pipeline with Ukraine and received proposals from Kyiv regarding alternative dates for the visit.
Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the "Druzhba" pipeline would be restored by the end of April, "not fully, but enough to keep it operational."