Zelenskyy says he's reluctant to repair pipeline that brings Russian oil to Central Europe

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that he would prefer not to repair a damaged oil pipeline that delivers Russian crude to Central Europe despite rising tensions with neighboring Hungary and Slovakia over interruptions to oil flows.

Russian oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia have been halted since Jan. 27 after what Ukrainian officials say were Russian drone attacks that damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory.

The populist leaders of Hungary and Slovakia, which unlike most European Union countries continue to import Russian fossil fuels, have accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up supplies. Kyiv says that continuous Russian strikes mean that carrying out repairs puts technicians in danger, and that even if repaired, Druzhba would remain vulnerable to further attacks.

In a news conference on Thursday, Zelenskyy expressed his reluctance to repair the pipeline despite Hungarian and Slovak demands.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t restore it. This is my position," Zelenskyy said.

The government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is widely seen as the Kremlin’s biggest advocate in the EU, has blocked a 90-billion euro ($106 billion) EU loan to Ukraine over the interruption to oil shipments, and vowed to veto any further pro-Ukraine decisions until oil flows resume.

Meanwhile, Orbán — who is trailing in polls before a major election challenge next month — has escalated an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign in Hungary, portraying the embattled country as an existential threat. He has claimed without evidence that Ukraine and Zelenskyy seek to bankrupt Hungary, and warned voters that if he loses the election, the country would become directly involved in the conflict with Russia.

Speaking to an economic forum on Thursday, Orbán said "we will win and we will win with force” in the feud with Ukraine over oil shipments.

“We have political and financial tools, and with these we will compel them, unconditionally and preferably as soon as possible, to reopen the Druzhba pipeline,” Orbán said. “I will make no pact, there will be no compromise. We will defeat them.”

Hungary and Slovakia have proposed sending a fact-finding mission to the pipeline site in western Ukraine to assess the scope of the damage and whether oil flows can resume. Zelenskyy on Thursday said he'd received no official request from the EU to allow inspectors to access the site, but that "I think it will certainly come in one format or another.”

Zelenskyy added that he hopes “one person” will not block the EU's 90-billion euro loan which Ukraine needs to continue funding its defense against Russia's invasion.

“This is Russian oil, and there are certain principles that have no price,” he continued. “They kill us, and we have to give oil to Orbán because he cannot win elections without it?”

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Associated Press writer Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed to this report.