Brussels in two minds about Ukraine’s pipeline hold-up

Ukraine’s decision to hold up an EU mission to inspect the Druzhba pipeline delivering Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia has divided and frustrated national capitals and Brussels.

”Not smart,” “an enigma,” and “unclear”, are some of the words used in diplomatic corridors to describe Kyiv’s obstruction of a team sent to inspect the pipeline blown up in the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

“We don’t have a clear picture of what the Ukrainian play here is,” said an EU diplomat.

According to briefings given to Euractiv, the EU inspection team – consisting of national experts but coordinated by the European Commission – has been in Ukraine for weeks awaiting approval from Kyiv to go to the site of the most recent attack on the crucial energy pipeline.

So far that approval has not come through.

In turn, Hungary has blocked a €90 billion loan that EU leaders agreed to in December. “No oil = no money,” Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister posted recently online.

At a summit on 19 March, EU leaders criticised Orbán for going back on past agreements. But now, patience with Kyiv is also running out.

“If Druzhba is deblocked, all sides win,” another EU diplomat granted anonymity to speak freely said, calling the hold-up “an enigma.”

“EU wants to adopt another sanctions package and put pressure on Russia, Ukraine needs the loan, Hungary and Slovakia are critically dependent on the flows of oil and are running on reserves or setting double prices.”

“The only way out of this stalemate is to check the situation on the ground and see there what the truth is.”

Zelenskyy had earlier indicated openness to the EU mission, but also said he is reluctant to have the pipeline repaired.

“I welcome and accept your offer of the necessary technical support and funding to be able to conclude the repair work,” Zelenskyy  wrote in a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa ahead of an EU leaders summit earlier this month.

Other diplomats were more sympathetic to Ukraine.

“On a human level, you can understand why would you repair something that is financing the war machine of the other side?” one EU diplomat said. “It’s an absurd situation,” they said with another underlining that “it’s a country at war”.

“We in the EU are moving away from Russian gas and oil. It is doable to have alternatives. Everything around Druzhba should be seen in that context,” a third diplomat said.

Ukraine’s diplomatic representation to the EU declined to comment.

EU foreign ministers are in Kyiv today to mark the fourth anniversary of the Bucha massacre, in which Russian soldiers killed Ukrainian civilians at scale at the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó is expected to skip the meeting, though a Hungarian delegation will attend on Tuesday, three officials previously told Euractiv.

Nicoletta Ionta contributed to this report

(bw, jp)