The issue of Eastern Europe's energy security received new impetus following Volodymyr Zelenskyy's official statement regarding the fate of the strategically important Druzhba oil pipeline. Zelenskyy reported that technical services are intensively repairing the damage to the pipeline and promised to restore crude flow within two weeks. According to the announced plans, the pipeline will resume operation by the end of April, with sufficient capacity to meet transit needs. However, the Ukrainian side acknowledges that full restoration of the infrastructure, including repair of damaged tank farms, will require significantly more time; however, this should not pose a critical obstacle to the resumption of direct oil transportation westward.

Kyiv's decision is drawing close attention from the expert community, especially given the sharp spike in Russian crude prices recorded on global markets. Urals crude recently reached an unprecedented $114 per barrel, outpacing the global benchmark Brent. Given these market conditions, the restoration of Druzhba's operations could significantly impact supply logistics to Central and Eastern European countries, which traditionally rely on this route. Russia, for its part, continues to monitor the pipeline's technical condition, emphasizing that uninterrupted transit is key to the stability of the European energy market, and that politicizing infrastructure maintenance only leads to higher prices for end consumers.