Ukraine to restart flows via Russian oil pipeline

{"text":[[{"start":8.65,"text":"Ukraine has completed repairs on a Russian oil pipeline and is ready to restart flows to Hungary and Slovakia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday, bringing an end to a dispute that had dragged on for months and delayed a €90bn loan to Kyiv. "}],[{"start":25.5,"text":"“Our specialists have ensured the basic conditions for restoring the operation of the pipeline system and equipment,” Zelenskyy announced in a post on X. “The pipeline can resume operation.” "}],[{"start":37.15,"text":"However, he included a caveat: “[N]o one can currently guarantee that Russia will not repeat attacks on the pipeline infrastructure.” "}],[{"start":44.6,"text":"Ukraine said that a Russian air strike in January had damaged the Druzhba pipeline and surrounding infrastructure. Zelenskyy had repeatedly said that Kyiv needed time to repair it and provided evidence of the destruction. "}],[{"start":57.900000000000006,"text":"Photographs shared with the FT by Sergii Koretskyi, chief executive of Ukrainian state oil group Naftogaz, showed a storage tank holding 75,000 cubic metres of oil in flames. He said it “took 10 days to extinguish” the fire. "}],[{"start":73.4,"text":"But the Russia-friendly governments of Hungary and Slovakia claimed that Kyiv had intentionally halted Russian oil exports. Budapest and Bratislava delayed the approval of a €90bn EU loan for Ukraine until the flows resumed."}],[{"start":88.75,"text":"Kyiv was seen by them and other EU member states as exacerbating the issue by denying a fact-finding mission to the site."}],[{"start":96.4,"text":"A senior Ukrainian official said that oil could now flow through the pipeline — if Russia turned on the spigot."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":104.30000000000001,"text":"In a post on X after Zelenskyy’s announcement, European Council president António Costa thanked the Ukrainian leader “for delivering, as agreed: repairing the Druzhba pipeline and restoring its operation”."}],[{"start":118.45000000000002,"text":"Zelenskyy said that reopening the pipeline was directly connected “with the unblocking of the European support package for Ukraine, which had already been approved” by EU leaders in December, including by Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán."}],[{"start":132.70000000000002,"text":"Orbán on Sunday posted on X there was “an indication from Ukraine they are ready to restore oil deliveries . . . provided that Hungary lifts its blockade of the €90bn EU loan . . . Once oil deliveries are restored, we will no longer stand in the way of approving the loan.”"}],[{"start":150.20000000000002,"text":"EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said: “Following Hungarian elections, there is a new momentum, and I expect a positive decision on the €90bn loan in the next 24 hours.”"}],[{"start":161.70000000000002,"text":"Hungarian prime minister-elect Péter Magyar, who beat Orbán in a recent election, on Monday said he expected the Ukrainian leader to refrain from making additional demands, such as the opening of EU accession chapters or fresh Russia sanctions — which Zelenskyy laid out in his post."}],[{"start":178.50000000000003,"text":"“This is not a game,” Magyar said in reply to an FT question on Monday. “If the Druzhba is suitable for transporting oil, then please open it as promised."}],[{"start":188.75000000000003,"text":"“We ask the Russians to feed it with oil because it doesn’t work without it . . . We will not engage in any blackmail . . . I suggest, I ask, and I demand, that if Druzhba works, they should open it.”"}],[{"start":202.65000000000003,"text":"The Slovak government indicated it will drop its veto to the next round of Russia sanctions. “However, we will do so only once Russian oil arrives in Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline,” said Slovak foreign minister Juraj Blanár."}],[{"start":216.80000000000004,"text":"Additional reporting by Mari Novik in Luxembourg and Ian Johnston in Brussels. Cartography by Cleve Jones in London"}],[{"start":232.50000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776817378_3982.mp3"}