Reuters. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview broadcast on Monday (April 20) that the damaged Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil to Eastern European countries would be restored to operation by the end of April.
"It will be ready to operate by the end of April," Zelenskiy told a Ukrainian television interviewer.
The interview appeared to have been recorded before the broadcast, but it was not immediately clear when.
Zelenskiy earlier this month cited the end of April as a date for the pipeline's operations to be resumed.
Ukraine state energy company Naftogaz has declined comment on when the pipeline's operations will be resumed.
Hungarian election winner Peter Magyar called on Zelenskiy on Monday to reopen the damaged pipeline as soon as it is functional, and for Russia to resume oil shipments through it.
Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Slovak government had accused Kyiv of delaying the repairs. Ukraine denies this.
Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off from Russian oil deliveries via Druzhba since late January after a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline in western Ukraine.
