Summary

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for parallel diplomacy on Ukraine, warning that his country cannot afford to be placed in a waiting queue while the United States focuses its full diplomatic attention on the war with Iran. Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour from his office in Kyiv on Wednesday, Zelensky said he is open to a ceasefire with Russia but does not foresee progress happening imminently, as Washington has shifted its attention to the Middle East. He said he did not see a meaningful opportunity for talks until the Iran situation is closed or some kind of fundamental ceasefire is reached between the United States, Israel and Iran. Zelensky pointed to the challenge posed by the fact that the same US negotiating team, led by envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, is simultaneously handling both the Iran conflict and the Ukraine negotiations. While acknowledging Washington’s current preoccupation, he insisted Ukraine could not simply be postponed. The Ukrainian leader rejected any suggestion that his country’s fate could be deferred. He said it was not an option to say Ukraine would be addressed a little bit later, adding: “Ukraine is not ‘a little bit later.’ Ukraine is already in such a big tragedy, we have to find a way to manage this in a parallel way.” The interview coincided with a significant financial development for Kyiv. Russian oil began flowing through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline on Wednesday after a halt lasting months, allowing Hungary to lift its veto on a 90 billion euro EU loan urgently needed by Kyiv. Hungarian oil group MOL confirmed that Ukraine had informed it deliveries of Russian crude had resumed and that the first shipments should arrive in Hungary and Slovakia within a day. The EU had agreed to the loan to keep Ukraine solvent through 2026 and 2027, but Hungary had refused to sign off on the deal, accusing Ukraine of delaying repairs to the pipeline that had been damaged in a Russian drone strike. Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Magyar won the country’s parliamentary election on April 12, removing the main political obstacle to the loan’s approval. The 27 EU ambassadors moved to give final approval to the loan package on Wednesday. Zelensky has said Ukraine completed the Druzhba repairs and that there are no longer grounds for any veto to remain in place. Zelensky also raised concerns about weapons supply, saying disruptions caused by the wider conflict had affected the availability of key anti-ballistic missile systems, and that Ukraine has the production capacity to significantly increase its drone interceptor output but lacks the financial resources to do so.