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Morning opening: EU set to sign off on €90bn loan for Ukraine, sanctions on Russia
Jakub Krupa
EU leaders are set to meet in Cyprus this evening to discuss the latest on the Middle East and the next EU budget, starting in 2028.
But it looks like they will have a bit of a detour – and a reason to celebrate, too – as the long-awaited €90bn loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia are on course to be unblocked after four months of delays caused by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.
After securing political agreement yesterday, the decision is now going through a formal written procedure, which is set to be completed by 1pm Brussels time.
Hungary and Slovakia have made it clear that they will no longer block the two measures if Russian oil deliveries restart through the Druzhba pipeline, and Slovakia’s economy minister Denisa Saková said that the flow has resumed overnight. A similar confirmation is expected from Hungary soon.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join the EU leaders in Cyprus in person to mark this milestone.
In sharp contrast, the bloc’s disrupter in chief, Orbán, will skip what would be his last EU summit (for now), losing the status of the longest-serving member of the European Council (15 years, 327 days) to Poland’s Donald Tusk (14 years, 73 days).
Separately, I will keep an eye on Prince Harry’s unexpected visit to Kyiv, and EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič’s talks in the US on trade.
I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Thursday, 23 April 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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Slovakia confirms oil deliveries through Druzhba pipeline in line with agreed schedules
We are getting a bit more detail from Slovakia on the oil deliveries it is getting via the now-restarted Druzhba pipeline.
Slovakia is expected to get 13,500 tonnes of Russian crude daily, meaning it should receive 119,000 tonnes by the end of the month.
“Oil intake is currently taking place in accordance with the agreed daily schedule and technical pumping parameters,” the economy ministry said in a statement quoted by Sme.
EU risks fallout with US over Trump-linked Balkans pipeline plan
Tom Burgis
in Sarajevo
The EU risks a confrontation with Donald Trump after it sought to stall the awarding of a lucrative Balkans pipeline contract to a company fronted by his personal lawyer, documents seen by the Guardian show.
Brussels has clashed with Trump over trade, Ukraine and military spending, but the intervention in the Southern Interconnection pipeline project appears to mark the first time it has challenged a commercial venture by those close to the president.
The pipeline will run through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under what Bosnian sources say have been months of pressure from US officials, its leaders have been moving quickly to award the contract to a previously little-known company based in Wyoming.
The company, AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, was incorporated in November last year and has not disclosed its owners. It is fronted by two leading members of Trump’s campaign to overturn his 2020 election defeat: Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who defended him against allegations of inciting the Capitol riots that followed, and Joe Flynn, brother of the president’s former national security adviser.
Despite lacking any apparent track record, AAFS is planning to invest $1.5bn in the pipeline and other Bosnian infrastructure projects, its local representative has said.
In March, lawmakers approved legislation that Transparency International said would set a “dangerous precedent” by stipulating that the contract must go to AAFS without a tender.
Days later, Brussels’ representative in Sarajevo delivered a private warning to Bosnia’s leaders that they were jeopardising the country’s hopes of joining the EU.
In a letter sent on 13 April, obtained by the Bosnian investigative outlet istraga.ba and seen by the Guardian, the EU official Luigi Soreca wrote that, under an energy agreement between Bosnia and Brussels, it was “crucial that draft laws are thoroughly coordinated” with the EU.
Soreca said Brussels should have a say in the pipeline legislation. “In this way, Bosnia and Herzegovina can continue to progress on its European path and avoid missing out on opportunities for further integration, as well as financial opportunities,” he said.
At least 17 injured after head-on train collision in Denmark
Elsewhere, two local trains have collided head-on in Denmark, injuring at least 17 people, four of whom are in a critical condition, according to emergency services.
The public broadcaster DR showed images of two yellow and grey trains, both with damage to the front, facing each other in a wooded area.
The incident happened north of Copenhagen on Thursday on a train line linking the towns of Hillerod and Kagerup, police said in a statement. “It is two local trains that have collided head-on,” a spokesperson for the rescue services told Reuters.
'It matters we don't lose sight' of Ukraine, Prince Harry says on surprise Kyiv visit
Britain’s Prince Harry made an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in a show of support for the country in its fifth year of war with Russia.
“It’s good to be back in Ukraine,” Prince Harry said on his arrival at a Kyiv railway station early on Thursday.
Reuters reported that he is set to attend a Kyiv security conference during the two-day trip. His arrival comes when the world’s attention has been redirected towards the war in the Middle East.
Ukraine is “a country bravely and successfully defending Europe’s eastern flank“, Prince Harry said, adding that “it matters that we don’t lose sight of the significance of that.”
No offer was made to rename Donbas as 'Donnyland' to flatter Trump, Zelenskyy says
Luke Harding
in Kyiv
Meanwhile, Ukraine’ Volodymyr Zelenskyy downplayed a New York Times report claiming that Ukraine had offered to rename the country’s Donbas region “Donnyland”, in honour of the US president, Donald Trump.
The paper said the idea was initially suggested as a joke. It was then proposed in negotiations as a way to flatter Trump and encourage him to take a tougher line on Russia, it added.
Replying to a question from the Guardian, Zelenskyy denied “Donnyland” was raised in talks.
He said:
“During my negotiations, no terms other than ‘Donetsk Oblast’, ‘Luhansk Oblast’, ‘our Donbas’ or ‘territory of Ukraine’ were used. Accordingly, documents exist that state all of this.”
Ukraine’s president said he could not comment on discussions about “other names”.
He added:
“In my view, the main thing is that the Donetsk region and the Luhansk region remain Ukrainian territory, as they are, so that there is no ‘Putinland’. That, to me, seems to be the most important thing.”
The White House has repeatedly pressured Ukraine to give the eastern Donbas to Russia as part of a peace deal and has suggested the region become a Russian-policed demilitarised zone. The Kremlin claims Trump agreed to a handover during his August summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Zelenskyy rejects this. He says he cannot cede territory under Ukraine’s constitution and points out that around 200,000 civilians live in the northern part of Donetsk Oblast that Kyiv still controls.
Ukrainian commanders believe Putin would violate any peace deal and use Donbas – or ‘Donnyland’ – as a springboard for future attacks.
Morning opening: EU set to sign off on €90bn loan for Ukraine, sanctions on Russia
Jakub Krupa
EU leaders are set to meet in Cyprus this evening to discuss the latest on the Middle East and the next EU budget, starting in 2028.
But it looks like they will have a bit of a detour – and a reason to celebrate, too – as the long-awaited €90bn loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia are on course to be unblocked after four months of delays caused by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.
After securing political agreement yesterday, the decision is now going through a formal written procedure, which is set to be completed by 1pm Brussels time.
Hungary and Slovakia have made it clear that they will no longer block the two measures if Russian oil deliveries restart through the Druzhba pipeline, and Slovakia’s economy minister Denisa Saková said that the flow has resumed overnight. A similar confirmation is expected from Hungary soon.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join the EU leaders in Cyprus in person to mark this milestone.
In sharp contrast, the bloc’s disrupter in chief, Orbán, will skip what would be his last EU summit (for now), losing the status of the longest-serving member of the European Council (15 years, 327 days) to Poland’s Donald Tusk (14 years, 73 days).
Separately, I will keep an eye on Prince Harry’s unexpected visit to Kyiv, and EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič’s talks in the US on trade.
I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Thursday, 23 April 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
