Oil deliveries to Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline have resumed after Ukraine completed repairs to the route damaged earlier this year.
Slovakia’s Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said the flow restarted early Thursday and is now proceeding as planned.
Ukraine confirmed it had resumed pumping oil to Slovakia and Hungary following the completion of repair work on the pipeline, which had been disrupted after a Russian strike in January.
The Druzhba pipeline has been at the centre of tensions between Ukraine, the European Union and countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, which continue to import Russian oil despite the ongoing war.
The issue also played into broader EU negotiations, including the approval of a major financial package for Kyiv that had faced delays.
Hungary’s former leader Viktor Orban had previously used the situation to press Ukraine over energy supplies.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly criticised continued purchases of Russian energy by some European countries.
The resumption of flows is expected to ease immediate supply concerns, though political tensions around energy dependence remain.
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