EU approves loan to Ukraine with the pipeline on and Orbán gone

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The EU has signed off a €90bn loan that will help Ukraine to keep fighting Russia. Although the package was agreed in December, it was vetoed by Viktor Orbán after the Ukrainian section of a pipeline that carries Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia was damaged. Ukraine says the damage was caused by a Russian drone, but Budapest blamed Kyiv and pledged to veto the funds until oil flowed again. Orbán has since been defeated by Péter Magyar, who is keen to repair Hungary’s strained ties with Brussels. Ukraine has also repaired the pipeline. Without the funding, Kyiv could have run out of money to finance its war effort by next month.