Zelenskyy: EU wants to know when Druzhba oil pipeline can reopen

Leaders of EU institutions want to know when the Druzhba oil pipeline will be able to resume operations.

Source: Ukrinform, citing Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of a meeting with Julia Klöckner, President of the Bundestag (German Federal Parliament), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Zelenskyy said the possible resumption of Druzhba's operations is being discussed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.

In response to a question about whether the EU is willing to unblock €90 billion in aid in exchange for the oil pipeline reopening, Zelenskyy said: "In our latest phone conversations, we agreed that Ukraine should give the EU presidents a date for a possible reopening. That means when it will be possible [to resume oil supplies – ed.] with regards to technical processes and in terms of timing. Our Naftogaz [the state-owned oil and gas company of Ukraine] is in contact, and they are dealing with this."

Zelenskyy noted that he had received information from Naftogaz that oil supplies could be resumed in one and a half to two months.

Quote: "But we must understand that this will only restore its capability [to supply oil – ed.]. We're not talking about restoring [the operation of] the storage tanks, if we were to also repair what was destroyed by the [Russian] missiles – it's the largest storage facility in Central Europe."

Background:

• Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the World Nuclear Forum in Paris and said they share the view that oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline should be resumed.
• Ukraine's Foreign Ministry stated that a Hungarian "monitoring group" entered Ukraine on the morning of 11 March, but it has no official status and no official meetings are scheduled.
• The group of Hungarians, led by Gábor Czepek, State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, said it intended to visit Ukraine to hold talks on reopening the Druzhba oil pipeline and to inspect its condition.
• Earlier, Hungary and Slovakia announced plans to send a monitoring mission to the site of the damage to the Druzhba pipeline in the city of Brody in Ukraine's west in order to obtain an expert assessment.

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