A bitter dispute pitting Hungary and Slovakia against Ukraine is holding up a crucial €90bn (£77.95bn) EU loan to Ukraine.
No oil has flowed through the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline, from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia across Ukraine, since the major oil hub at Brody, in western Ukraine, was damaged in a Russian attack on 27 January.
While Ukraine argues that it will need six more weeks to repair the damage and restore the oil flow, Budapest accuses Kyiv of stalling, as revenge for Hungary's pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian position.
The dispute underlines the ability of one or two countries to block EU decision making. It also shows Hungary and Slovakia facing fuel problems, because they refused to follow the lead of others and wean themselves off Russian oil since 2022.
The Brody pumping station in Ukraine's western Lviv region is crucially important for the transit of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
Satellite images obtained by the BBC suggest that the Russian strike on 27 January damaged its key part - a huge tank used to store oil necessary to keep the pipeline pressurised and functioning.
The photos appear to show the tank smouldering after the attack and suggest that a fire raged there for days. This is the biggest oil tank in Ukraine, with a capacity of 75,000 cu.m.
Ukrainian energy expert Henadiy Ryabtsev says damage caused to the pumping station at Brody is severe, and is possibly not just limited to the oil tank. According to him, the extreme heat resulting from the fire may have also damaged other systems at Brody, such as pumps and the pipeline itself.
The Hungarian government has accused Ukraine of delaying the restoration of the oil flow through the pipeline for political reasons. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban maintains close economic and political relations with Moscow, and makes no secret of his dislike of Volodymyr Zelensky.
The opposite view is offered by András Rácz, a security analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations, who states that while the pipe itself is intact, it cannot be operated safely because everything inside needs to be replaced or at least double-checked to assess the extent of the damage.
In the meantime, Hungary has begun receiving non-Russian seaborne Brent crude from Norway, Saudi Arabia, and Libya through the Adria pipeline from Croatia, however, the MOL refineries lack equipment to refine non-Russian oil, which has a lower sulphur content.
