Paragraph about the loan to Ukraine removed from the European Union statement 0 9

A clause regarding a €90 billion loan to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia has been removed from the European Union's statement on the Druzhba pipeline. In the updated version of the joint statement by Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, one provision has disappeared.

The clause linked the resumption of the pipeline's operation to discussions on financial assistance to Ukraine and the twentieth package of sanctions against Russia. Initially, the text stated that the launch of Druzhba would be a necessary step to return to negotiations about the loan. However, this clause was later removed from all official publications of the European Commission and the European Council.

In the current version, only the fact that the European Union offered Ukraine technical and financial assistance for the restoration of oil supplies remains. Kyiv agreed to this proposal.

Ukraine had previously promised to resume oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia in about a month and a half. In turn, Budapest insisted that it would not support the allocation of funds to Ukraine until supplies through Druzhba were restored.

Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that if the ruling party Fidesz wins the parliamentary elections on April 12, Hungary will begin a fight with the European Union. According to him, EU leaders have prepared a decision for a complete ban on Russian oil, which they want to announce on April 15.

Before this, Kyiv stated that the provision of a €90 billion loan to Ukraine by the European Union could not be linked to the operation of the Druzhba pipeline.