EU approves €90bn loan for Ukraine as pipeline is turned on ending deadlock

Ukraine says it has resumed pumping Russian oil through a pipeline into Hungary and Slovakia, bringing to an end months of deadlock over a €90bn (£78bn) loan seen as vital European Union support for Kyiv. Soon afterwards, EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels gave preliminary approval to the loan, as well as a 20th package of sanctions on Russia, offi...

Ukraine says it has resumed pumping Russian oil through a pipeline into Hungary and Slovakia, bringing to an end months of deadlock over a €90bn (£78bn) loan seen as vital European Union support for Kyiv.

Soon afterwards, EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels gave preliminary approval to the loan, as well as a 20th package of sanctions on Russia, officials said.

Although the funding was agreed last December, Hungary's Viktor Orbán slapped a veto on the payment in February after Ukraine said damage caused by a Russian attack had brought supplies to a halt.

Ukrainian oil and government sources told officials in Hungary and Slovakia that pumping had restarted, hours after the EU ambassadors began discussing the loan.