Brussels 22.04.2026 Today the EU countries on have given a preliminary green light to unblocking a 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine, with Hungary given 24 hours to sign off definitively as it waits for Russian oil to arrive via the Druzhba pipeline, diplomats said. (Image: illustration)

The bitter feud over the pipeline pitted Hungary’s nationalist premier Viktor Orban against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, stalling the vitally needed funds for Kyiv.

Resolving the standoff would allow Brussels to start paying out the loan in the coming months that Ukraine requires to plug its budget four years into Moscow’s invasion.

Key Aspects of the €90 Billion Loan:
Purpose: The funds are intended for defense industrial capacity, military equipment procurement, and general budget support.
Structure: It is a 2-year package intended to cover significant portions of Ukraine’s financial needs.
Approval & Status: As of April 2026, ambassadors are finalizing the package, which includes a 20th round of sanctions against Russia.

Repayment: The loan is backed by EU borrowing and is only repayable if Russia pays reparations.

Kremlin-friendly Orban – who suffered a crushing election defeat this month – insisted that he would not budge until Ukraine repaired the pipeline hit by a Russian strike.

European Union member state ambassadors have approved a €90 billion loan package for Ukraine pic.twitter.com/BHilFhEid1

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The decision comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the deliveries would be restored. Today, Hungarian and Slovakian authorities confirmed that oil was again flowing through the Druzhba pipeline.

“According to the information available to us, petroleum transportation on the Friendship Line from Belarus to Ukraine resumed today at 11:35 am,” Hungarian EU minister János Bóka wrote on his page on Facebook. “Hungarian tactics led to success” he added.

Hungary and Slovakia had blocked the approval of the EU’s 20th sanctions package on Russia since oil stopped flowing through the Druzhba pipeline due to Russian attacks. The pipeline has been delivering Russian oil through Ukraine to the two landlocked countries since the Soviet times.

Hungary has also been blocking the EU’s €90 billion loan to Ukraine, while the outgoing Prime minister Viktor Orbán repeated that without oil deliveries restored, the Hungarian veto would stand. EU leaders agreed to the loan at their summit in Brussels in December – with Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia exempted from bearing any of the financial burden.