Ukraine’s president warns that repair timing is secondary to Europe’s choice whether to resume Russian oil imports, framing any conditional aid as potential coercion.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, declared that the main question about restoring the Druzhba oil pipeline lies not in the repair dates but in the very essence: is Europe ready to resume importing Russian oil.
The president spoke about this during a discussion with journalists, with no attribution to specific sources spreading details of the meeting.
Position on repairs and the future export
“Druzhba” does not affect the world oil market in any way. These volumes are not at all the same. Yesterday (the discussion with media representatives took place on March 14 – ed.) we spoke, for example, with Emmanuel Macron, and he states to me: what do you believe overall about this repair and the timelines? I want to speak frankly. I notify him: let’s agree that the repair issue is the second matter. The first question is: have we all decided to resume exports of Russian oil? I declared that it is difficult for me, becaapply leaders want to skip this step. This is wrong”
The head of state noted that the question of Druzhba’s operation has global significance: will we sell Russian oil at all, or not.
“Becaapply I am being forced to restart the oil pipeline. How does this differ from lifting sanctions on the ‘Russians’? Why can we in one case notify the United States that we are against lifting sanctions, and in another, force Ukraine to restore oil via ‘Druzhba’ also at a political price that pays for anti-European policy? This is also a kind of lifting sanctions,” the president declared.
According to him, in the event of pressure on Ukraine to exmodify for resuming the pipeline’s operation with the unlocking of aid of 90 billion euros, Ukraine may regard such a demand as blackmail and respond accordingly.
“I openly state: I am against this. But if they set conditions that Ukraine does not receive weapons, then, sorry, I am disarmed on this matter. I informed our frifinishs in Europe that this is called blackmail. The decision on 90 billion was created by all 27 countries. We agreed. This is the decision that has already been created and must be fulfilled, becaapply joint European decisions must be implemented,” Zelensky stressed.
He explained that disagreements regarding the date of the technical restoration of Druzhba are as follows: the date is being clarified, but the priority remains the question of Europe’s right to acquire and transport Russian oil through this route.
The European Commission yesterday proposed sfinishing a mission to assess the extent of damage to the pipeline after Russia’s missile strikes earlier this year.
“I openly state: I am against this. But if they set conditions that Ukraine does not receive weapons, then, sorry, I am disarmed in this matter. I informed our frifinishs in Europe that this is called blackmail. The decision on 90 billion was created by all 27 countries. We agreed. This is the decision that has already been created and must be fulfilled, becaapply joint European decisions must be implemented”
Against this backdrop, Hungary is actively voicing its position, while blocking further EU steps and urging the restoration of the pipeline so that Russia receives financial resources for the war. It is also known that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent an open letter to the Ukrainian leader calling for the pipeline to be opened as soon as possible.
The European community and individual countries continue to consider various supply and sanctions scenarios, focapplying on maintaining energy security in the region and supporting Ukraine in its defensive and strategic interests.
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