To many Ukrainians and Europeans, the European Union’s unlocking of a 90bn-euro ($105bn) loan to Ukraine on April 23 was a bittersweet victory because it came with a multibillion-dollar gift to Russia.EU member Hungary agreed to lift a veto on the loan after Ukraine mended the Druzhba pipeline, which traverses its territory and supplies Hungary with Russian oil.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listUkraine needs the money to fight for another two years, but landlocked Hungary and Slovakia say they both depend on the Druzhba pipeline as their only source of crude.Last year, they received 9.25 million tonnes through it, worth more than $4bn. It’s a far cry from the roughly $50bn the EU paid Russia for crude in 2021, before Russia invaded Ukraine, but Ukraine says even this money translates directly into bombs, bullets and Ukrainian lives.“In order for us to get some money to survive, the aggressor who is killing us needs to get some money, as well. It seems like it’s a deal where we just cannot win,” said Inna Sovsun, a Ukrainian parliament member who sits on the energy committee.“It’s completely, let’s say, weird, but I think the stronger word would be immoral,” she told Al Jazeera.‘Backbone of supply for Central Europe’Apart from Hungary and Slovakia, the EU appears to agree with Sovsun.It banned Russian seaborne crude and refined pet …
