President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday dismissed demands from the European Union and neighboring allies to fast-track repairs on the Druzhba pipeline, stating that ongoing Russian strikes have made a quick restoration of oil flows impossible.

The pipeline, a Soviet-era artery that has carried Russian crude to Central Europe since the 1960s, has been offline since Jan. 27. Kyiv attributes the outage to a Russian strike on critical infrastructure in western Ukraine, while Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of intentionally prolonging the disruption to exert political leverage.

"Firstly, it’s not that fast," Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv. He noted that Russian attacks have destroyed the link between the Black Sea port of Odesa and the Druzhba system. "This is not their first strike, and they continue to hit the energy sector."

The outage has sparked a diplomatic rift between Ukraine, Hungary, and Slovakia, with Hungary blocking an EU loan package to Ukraine. 

During a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged Ukraine to accelerate repairs.

 However, Zelenskyy countered that Ukrainian workers have already risked their lives to maintain the system, noting that "our people were injured so that it would work."

In Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán characterized the suspension as an "oil blockade" and a purely political move. 

Hungary and Slovakia, which remain heavily dependent on Russian energy, have threatened to retaliate by halting emergency electricity exports to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s state-owned energy firm, Naftogaz, reported Wednesday that 60 Russian drones targeted gas storage and production facilities in the Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions over the last 48 hours. Kyiv maintains that Russia bears "full responsibility" for the energy crisis.

Despite a brief pause in attacks earlier this month brokered at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy suggested that if Hungary wants the oil to flow, it should use its cordial ties with Moscow to negotiate.

"Hungarians should appeal to the Russians to grant an energy truce," Zelenskyy said.