Overview
- Viktor Orbán is maintaining a veto on a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine and parts of a new sanctions package, tying any shift to independent verification of the pipeline’s condition.
- After a call with Volodymyr Zelensky, Slovakia’s Robert Fico accepted talks but said Ukraine refused on‑site inspections on security grounds and he believes Kyiv shows no interest in restoring transit.
- Budapest and Bratislava announced a joint investigative commission and have asked Ukraine to grant their experts access to the damaged Druzhba section.
- The European Commission said it is engaging with Kyiv on an expert mission and reiterated that a Russian strike on January 27 caused the outage, with repair timing still unclear.
- Croatia offered alternative supplies via the Adria pipeline, and operator JANAF is already unloading non‑Russian cargoes for MOL with more tankers due by April as legal issues are assessed.