European Union ambassadors gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine and a 20th package of sanctions against Russia, breaking a four-month deadlock hours after Ukraine restarted the Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian crude into Hungary and Slovakia. Hungary, which had vetoed the loan in February, withdrew its objection once oil flows resumed at 12:35 local time in western Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian government source cited by the BBC.

The package, described by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka as "a matter of life and death" for Kyiv, directs two-thirds of the funds to Ukraine's defense needs and the remainder to broader financial assistance. A German government spokesperson told Reuters disbursement could begin within 24 hours of Thursday's final written procedure, though Ukrainian media said funds may take weeks to arrive. The Cypriot presidency said formal adoption is expected Thursday afternoon, when EU leaders gather in Cyprus.

How the veto fell

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban imposed the veto in February after a Russian strike damaged an oil tank at Brody in western Ukraine and halted supplies through Druzhba on Jan. 27. Orban, who lost his recent election after 16 years in power and is serving as caretaker until early next month, said at the weekend that "we will no longer stand in the way of approving the loan" once deliveries resumed. Incoming Prime Minister Peter Magyar has pledged to reset Budapest's relations with Brussels.

Hungarian oil company MOL, relaying a message from Ukrainian operator JSC Ukrtransnafta, said the first crude shipments would reach Hungary and Slovakia by Thursday. Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said pressurization began Wednesday morning and crude would reach Slovakia on Thursday, the first flow since Jan. 27.

Zelenskyy's signal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on X, called the unblocking "the right signal under the current circumstances" and said incentives for Russia to end the war "can arise only when both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia are sufficient." He said Ukraine had fulfilled what the EU asked on the pipeline and urged that the support package "becomes operational swiftly."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, ahead of the ambassadors' meeting, said, "Ukraine really needs this loan and it's also a sign that Russia cannot outlast Ukraine." Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee confirmed Hungary's move in the Committee of Permanent Representatives, where EU ambassadors work out disputes before formal sign-off.

Oil crosscurrents

Even as southern flows resumed, Russia's deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said Kazakh oil previously shipped via Druzhba to Germany would be "redirected to other available logistics routes" starting May 1, citing technical capacity. The PCK refinery at Schwedt near the Polish border, under German government trusteeship since 2022, is assessing the impact. A government spokesman said the change "will not significantly restrict refinery operations."

Ukraine has targeted Russian oil infrastructure in parallel with the repairs. An official from Ukraine's SBU security service said drones struck a pumping and dispatch facility in the village of Prosvet, in Russia's Samara region, this week. The site is part of the Druzhba supply chain.

The counter view

Today's body-tier coverage drew only from center and left-leaning outlets; right-leaning European reporting on the veto drop was not represented in the ingest. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose government had also blocked the 20th sanctions package, said Wednesday the processes of unblocking the loan and restarting oil deliveries went "hand in hand," signaling he would lift his block once crude physically reached Slovak refineries. Orban plans to skip Thursday's leaders' meeting, and Magyar cannot represent Hungary until he takes office in early May, leaving the bloc's celebration without a Hungarian head of government in the room.

The Council is set to finalize both the loan and the sanctions package through written procedure on Thursday afternoon, with leaders expected to mark the decision at their Cyprus meeting the same evening.