Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the unblocking of a €90bn European Union loan for Ukraine, describing it as “the right signal under the current circumstances”. Writing on X, the Ukrainian president said that incentives for Russia to end its war “can arise only when both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia are sufficient”. He added that Ukraine was fulfilling its obligations with the EU, including on the sensitive issue of the Druzhba oil pipeline, and stressed the importance of the support package “becoming operational swiftly”.
The EU’s formal written procedure for approving the loan is expected to conclude by Thursday afternoon, after Hungary dropped its longstanding opposition. The move followed the restart of the Druzhba pipeline, with Hungarian oil giant MOL reporting that crude oil from Belarus had begun flowing to Ukraine around midday, with first deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia expected the following day. Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, warned Ukraine against any attempts to disrupt the flow of Russian oil once the funds were approved.
In a separate development, Russia confirmed plans to suspend shipments of Kazakh oil to Germany from 1 May, citing technical reasons. The announcement came as the European Commission unveiled measures to cut electricity taxes and provide fresh incentives for consumers to ditch fuel-burning cars and boilers, as part of a response to the energy crisis linked to the Iran war. The commission said it would adopt temporary state aid rules to help member states shield consumers and businesses from high energy prices, but warned that any support must be “targeted, timely and temporary”.
The commission stopped short of introducing a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, which five EU finance ministers had called for, and ruled out a cap on gas prices. Energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen said that by investing in clean energy and electrification, “we unlock more money for our economy”. Separately, British holidaymakers face new EU rules for taking pets into the bloc, with paperwork costing up to £200.
