Kallas hopes EU unlocks 90 bln euro loan for Ukraine in next 24 hours

BRUSSELS. April 21 (Interfax) - The European Union's diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas has said she hopes that Hungary's blockage of a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine for 2026-2027 can be lifted in the 24 hours.

"Following Hungarian elections, there is a new momentum. And I expect a positive decision on the 90-billion-euro loan in the next 24 hours," Kallas told a press conference after a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Tuesday.

At the meeting the ministers expressed a wish to move faster with deciding the matter of imposing the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions, she said. "We should also revisit long-blocked decisions including opening negotiation clusters with Ukraine. [...] Also, we should revisit sanctions that have been on the table and not agreed before, but also we should move on with the new sanctions package," Kallas said.

Hungary and Slovakia should no longer object to the loan, with Ukraine now saying that the operability of the Druzhba oil pipeline has been restored, she said.

"This is a promise [to resume supplies] that Ukraine made, so, hopefully, all the obstacles are removed," Kallas said.

It was this problem with the pipeline operation that prompted Hungary and Slovakia to withhold support for the loan, she said.

At the same time, she said that, being no expert in the oil sphere, she could not answer whether oil flows can resume right now.

A proposal is also being drafted to limit EU travel for veterans of the special military operation, Kallas said. This will happen before the June meeting of the European Council, she said.