Switzerland said it won’t allow weapons exports to the U.S. as long as Washington is involved in its ongoing military campaign against Iran. The Swiss government said on Friday that it will not sign off on any new licenses for the export of war materiel to countries involved in the conflict, citing Switzerland’s commitment to neutrality. Switzerland said that it has not issued new export licenses to send weapons to the U.S. since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28. Existing licenses to export weapons to the U.S. can continue as they are not relevant “to the war at present,” but they will be kept under review in case they conflict with Swiss neutrality laws, it said. Exports of other dual-use and military goods, and other goods affected by sanctions against Iran, will also be kept under review, it added. Switzerland has not granted weapons export licenses for Israel or Iran for a “number of years,” the government said.

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other on Saturday, the latest in a string of attacks since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Tehran in late February.  The U.S., meanwhile, was sending thousands more Marines to the Middle East, according to media reports, even as U.S. President Donald Trump broached “winding down” American military operations in the regioin.  Israel’s military said Saturday’s attacks targeted “the Iranian terrorist regime” in Tehran, as well as “Hezbollah targets” in Beruit. Israel also said that it identified missiles fired from Iran at Israeli territory.  Tehran also fired two ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.-U.K. military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but did not hit the base, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The British government condemned “Iran’s reckless strikes” and confirmed London’s agreement for Washington to use U.K. bases in attacks against Iranian “missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.” The U.K. “is working closely with international partners to develop a viable plan to safeguard international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” it said in a statement.  Defense ministries in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates said on Saturday that they were responding to incoming missile and drone threats, as the conflict continues to spill over into Persian Gulf states. Trump said in a Truth Social post late Friday that Washington is “getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down” the U.S. military campaign against Iran. He listed the objectives being met as “completely degrading” Iran’s missile capability, “destroying” the country’s defense industrial base, “eliminating” Iran’s navy and air force, keeping the country far away from nuclear capability, and protecting U.S. allies in the Middle East. Trump’s statement is at odds with the reports that the U.S. is sending more troops and warships to the region, and has requested another $200 billion from Congress to fund the war. The conflict has caused global oil prices to spike, driven in part by Israeli strikes on Iran’s vast offshore gas field and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade passage that facilitates a significant share of the world’s oil and natural gas trade. The U.S. said on Friday that it would temporarily waive sanctions on Iranian oil to help ease the short term shock to global markets, as Trump called NATO allies “cowards” for refusing to join the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and help reopen the Hormuz channel.

U.S. sanctions on some Iranian oil will be temporarily lifted to allow the sale of shipments already in transit, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Friday. The partial pause on sanctions is intended to help ease what the Trump administration sees as a short-term shock to the global market as a result of the attack on Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel three weeks ago. Bessent said in a social media post that the U.S. is granting a short-term authorization to allow the sale of about 140 million barrels of Iranian oil in transit. “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury,” he said. Oil prices have spiked to more than $100 per barrel since the U.S. launched airstrikes on Iran last month, triggering a rise in gas prices. Israeli strikes on Iran’s vast offshore gas field and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade passage that facilitates a significant share of the world’s oil and natural gas trade, have helped drive the increases. The sales have been authorized for 30 days, according to a copy of the general license issued by the Treasury Department on Friday. The announcement marks a partial reversal of the longstanding aggressive economic pressure campaign by the U.S. intended to weaken Iran’s economy, though Bessent said the country would have “difficulty accessing any revenue generated” from the sales. “The United States will continue to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system,” he added. Trump appeared to acknowledge he was aware that entering a war with Iran could cause oil prices to spike, even as he touted the success of the U.S. military operation and the strength of the economy. “I expected it worse actually,” he told reporters at the White House on Friday. “I thought that oil prices would go much higher.” Bessent said he’s confident the suspension of sanctions on Iran will benefit the U.S. economy in the long run. “Any short-term disruption now will ultimately translate into longer-term economic gains for Americans — because there is no prosperity without security,” he said. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in response that the easing of sanctions gives the Iranian government “a financial lifeline” as Americans “continue to feel the impact” of the war. “To say the president has no plan is an understatement,” Shaheen said.

Moscow proposed a quid pro quo to the U.S. under which the Kremlin would stop sharing intelligence information with Iran, such as the precise coordinates of U.S. military assets in the Middle East, if Washington ceased supplying Ukraine with intel about Russia. Two people familiar with the U.S.-Russia negotiations said that such a proposal was made by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev to Trump administration envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during their meeting last week in Miami. The U.S. rejected the proposal, the people added. They, like all other officials cited in this article, were granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions. Nevertheless, the sheer existence of such a proposal has sparked concern among European diplomats, who worry Moscow is trying to drive a wedge between Europe and the U.S. at a critical moment for transatlantic relations. U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced anger over the refusal of allies to send warships in the Strait of Hormuz. On Friday, he lambasted his NATO allies as “COWARDS“ and said: “we will REMEMBER!” The White House declined to comment. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. One EU diplomat called the Russian proposal “outrageous.” The suggested deal is likely to fuel growing suspicions in Europe that the Witkoff-Dmitriev meetings are not delivering concrete progress toward a peace agreement in Ukraine, but are instead seen by Moscow as a chance to lure Washington into a deal between the two powers that leaves Europe on the sidelines. On Thursday, the Kremlin said that the U.S.-mediated Ukraine peace talks were “on hold.” Russia has made various proposals about Iran to the U.S., which has rejected them all, another person familiar with the discussions said. This person said the U.S. also rejected a proposal to move Iran’s enriched uranium to Russia, which was first reported by Axios. Russia has expanded ‌intelligence-sharing and military cooperation with Iran since the war started, a person briefed on the intelligence said. The Wall Street Journal first reported the increase and wrote that Moscow is providing satellite ⁠imagery and drone technology to help Tehran target U.S. forces in the region. The Kremlin called that report  “fake news.” Trump hinted at a link between the intelligence-sharing with Iran and Ukraine during a recent interview with Fox News, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin “might be helping them [Iran] a little bit, yeah, I guess, and he probably thinks we’re helping Ukraine, right?” The U.S. continues to share intelligence with Ukraine, even as it has reduced other support. Washington briefly paused the exchanges last year after a disastrous Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That abrupt halt to U.S. intelligence sharing triggered a chaotic scramble among allies and exposed deep tensions in the partnership with Kyiv. One European diplomat sought to downplay the risk of the Russian proposal, noting that French President Emmanuel Macron had said in January that “two-thirds” of military intelligence for Ukraine is now provided by France. Still, intelligence-sharing remains a last crucial pillar of American support for Ukraine after the Trump administration stopped most of its financial and military aid for Kyiv last year. Washington is still delivering weapons to Ukraine but under a NATO-led program where allies pay the U.S. for arms. Deliveries of critical air defense munitions, however, are under strain amid the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.  Most recently, the Trump administration decided to ease sanctions on Russian oil to alleviate pressure on oil markets, causing strong concern and criticism from  European leaders like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Hans von der Burchard reported from Berlin, Felicia Schwartz and Diana Nerozzi from Washington and Jacopo Barigazzi from Brussels.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Wir befinden uns in einem neuen Kalten Krieg, und er ist deutlich ungemütlicher als der letzte. Anstatt klarer Blockkonfrontation erleben wir ein multipolares Chaos, in dem die zivile Infrastruktur und die Wirtschaft längst zum Ziel geworden sind. Im Panel-Gespräch auf einer Sicherheitstagung in Berlin spricht der Präsident des Bundesverfassungsschutzes, Sinan Selen, mit Gordon Repinski über Russlands Nadelstiche aus der „hybriden Toolbox“ und neue Bedrohungen aus Richtung Iran. Wie gut sind das Land und die Geheimdienste gegen diese teils unsichtbaren Feinde aufgestellt? Im 200-Sekunden-Interview dazu: der stellvertretende Vorsitzende des Parlamentarischen Kontrollgremiums, Konstantin von Notz (Grüne). Nach dem EU-Gipfel sortiert Hans von der Burchard die Ergebnisse. Von der Ukraine-Hilfe über das Rüstungsprojekt FCAS bis hin zur europäischen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit gibt er ein Update aus dem politischen Herzen Europas. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. ⁠Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren.⁠ Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: ⁠@gordon.repinski⁠ | X: ⁠@GordonRepinski⁠. POLITICO Deutschland – ein Angebot der Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH Axel-Springer-Straße 65, 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 (30) 2591 0 ⁠information@axelspringer.de⁠ Sitz: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg, HRB 196159 B USt-IdNr: DE 214 852 390 Geschäftsführer: Carolin Hulshoff Pol, Mathias Sanchez Luna

The Trump administration may suspend sanctions on Iranian oil already at sea in a bid to clamp down on energy prices that have shot up amid the war in the Middle East, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday. It’s the latest play weighed by the administration to stabilize the oil market against price shocks since the U.S. and Israel launched their joint operation in February. The maneuver could free up 140 million barrels of Iranian oil for global use, Bessent said. “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days, as we continue this campaign,” he said on Fox Business. It’s one of several “levers” Bessent said the administration has at its disposal, as Iranian attacks cripple the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that carries roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply. The administration could also make more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve available, Bessent added. The administration already started making 172 million barrels from the SPR available. “So we have lots of levers, we’ve got plenty more that we can do,” Bessent said. “Some countries are going to do more, the U.S. could unilaterally do another SPR release to keep the price down.” The White House has discussed adding up to 100 million more barrels to the administration’s pledge last week, said a person familiar with the plan who was granted anonymity to discuss conversations within the administration. “Some military advisers are concerned [about] draining so much, and are pushing for more like 50 million barrels on the concern that further destruction of oil and gas infrastructure in the [Middle East] region could leave the country vulnerable from a reserve standpoint,” this person said. A spokesperson for the Department of Energy — which controls the SPR — said in a statement following Bessent’s interview there were currently no plans for another release. “The United States has taken several actions thus far to mitigate disruptions to energy markets,” DOE spokesperson Ben Dietderich said. “While the U.S. continues to consider all options to keep markets supplied, there are currently no plans for an additional SPR release.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Oil and product flows through the strait have plummeted from roughly 20 million barrels a day to just “a trickle,” the International Energy Agency reported last week, marking the largest supply disruption in history. U.S. gas prices are up by more than 85 cents per gallon from the start of the war. Bessent called the blockade a “temporary chokepoint” and implored American allies to help secure the strait. “They’re the ones who need this oil,” he said. “The U.S., we’re an oil exporter.” Trump, in the meantime, has skewered American allies, oscillating between calling for their assistance to insisting on Truth Social that “WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE.” “We are intervening in markets by creating this excess supply with oil that’s on the water,” Bessent said Thursday.

BRUSSELS — Most Europeans believe the U.S. could pull the plug on technology that Europe heavily relies on, according to a new poll. Eighty-six percent of people think a sudden U.S. move to restrict Europe’s access to digital services is “plausible” and “should not be ruled out,” and 59 percent called it “already a real and concrete risk,” in a survey conducted by SWG and Polling Europe presented to European Parliament members this week. European governments are trying to reduce their dependency on U.S. technology for critical services like cloud, communications and AI. One fear driving the shift to use homegrown tech is that of a “kill switch”; the idea that U.S. President Donald Trump could force the hand of American tech providers to cease services in Europe. Those fears peaked when the International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan lost access last year to his Microsoft-hosted email account after the U.S. imposed sanctions on him. “During the last year, everybody has really realized how important it is that we are not dependent on one country or one company when it comes to some very critical technologies,” the EU’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen told an audience in Brussels earlier this year, at an event organized by POLITICO. “In these times … dependencies, they can be weaponized against us,” Virkkunen said. The survey quizzed 5,079 respondents across all 27 EU member countries in January. For 55 percent of those interviewed, charting a “European path” has become a “central strategic issue.” The European Parliament and a series of national government institutions have already taken steps to move away from ubiquitous U.S. tech — though EU capitals have cautioned the transition won’t happen overnight. The European Commission is also finalizing a set of proposals due in late May to reduce reliance on foreign tech, including defining what qualifies as a sovereign provider and which critical sectors should rely exclusively on them to safeguard European data and day-to-day operations. The poll suggests U.S. efforts to debunk and dismiss the “kill switch” scenario haven’t convinced Europeans. U.S. National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross told an audience in Munich in February that the idea that Trump can pull the plug on the internet is not “a credible argument.” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in Brussels last year that the “kill switch” scenario was “exceedingly unlikely” to happen, but acknowledged it’s “a real concern of people across Europe.” He pledged to push back against any prospective orders to suspend operations in Europe. U.S. firms at the same time are rushing to assuage the concerns with safeguards, like air-gapped solutions that would prove resilient in the case of operational disruptions.

BRUSSELS ― For much of the past decade, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has succeeded in bending the EU’s agenda to his will by forcing leaders to overcome his vetoes in one high-level gathering after another. On Thursday he’s ready to do it again — possibly for the last time as he faces a tough battle for reelection against rival Péter Magyar next month. By threatening to block, at a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels, a €90 billion loan for Ukraine that he’d approved in December, Orbán has crossed a red line when it comes to opposing Brussels. In doing so he is setting himself up for a reckoning with the bloc that could come soon after the Hungarian election, five EU diplomats and one national European government cabinet minister said. While the bloc has so far shied away from a major confrontation with Hungary — it hasn’t stripped Budapest’s voting rights, for example — this cautious calculus may well change after the election. At that point, fears of feeding into Orbán’s campaign narrative will be displaced by the need to dissuade other leaders from copying the Hungarian strongman, said the same diplomats and officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive summit preparations. A reckoning was in the cards regardless of the outcome of Hungary’s April 12 election, the officials said, but would arrive much faster if Orbán is re-elected. He is currently nine percentage points behind Magyar, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls. “The behavior from Hungary is a new low,” Sweden’s Europe Minister Jessica Rosencrantz told POLITICO ahead of Thursday’s European Council. Asked if Stockholm would consider using legal tools against Hungary, including deploying Article 7 of the EU’s Treaty to take Budapest’s voting rights away, she said: “Absolutely, we are open.” Swedish EU Affairs Minister Jessica Rosencrantz speaks to the media in the Europa building in Brussels on March 17, 2026. | Thierry Monasse/Getty Images If Orbán is reelected, “there will be a serious conversation among a group of countries about how to handle this going into the future,” one of the diplomats said. That conversation would likely play out differently if Magyar prevails, as he “indicates that he wants to play a more constructive game,” while EU leaders would likely play a “waiting game” to see how the new government behaves. What exactly the EU would do to rein in a reelected Orbán remains an open question. So far it has proven impossible to obtain the backing of 26 out of 27 EU countries for an Article 7 proceeding against Budapest. But other legal options, such as tying EU funds to even more stringent rule-of-law conditions, are already on the table, the diplomats said, as is dragging Orbán to court over his obstruction on the loan. During a closed-door meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul showed just how little patience the EU still has for Hungary, warning that Budapest’s obstructionism could no longer be tolerated, according to three diplomats who were briefed on Foreign Affairs Council talks. The diplomats disputed an account of the exchange by the Hungarian PM’s political adviser — who wrote in a post on X that Wadephul had threatened Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó with “very serious consequences.” The diplomats described the German minister’s remarks as “very direct,” “very clear” and “leaving no doubt that this can no longer be tolerated.” Other unnamed foreign ministers had been even more direct with Szijjártó, leaving him “taken aback,” according to one of the diplomats. “Prime Minister Orbán should understand that he is all the time testing the limits of what other member states are willing to put up with,” said a second senior EU diplomat from a mid-sized country. “This cannot continue.” A third diplomat said: “This will definitely have consequences after the elections. We are just waiting for that to happen.” Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjártó speaks to the media in Brussels on March 16, 2026. | Thierry Monasse/Getty images ROCK AND HARD PLACE What’s especially galling about Orbán’s latest standoff to many of his critics is how well he laid his trap — and how easily EU leaders walked into it. Merely blocking the EU’s 20th Russian sanctions package wasn’t a big enough spectacle for the Hungarian PM. But the Druzhba oil pipeline, which Kyiv said had been damaged in a Russian attack in January, fit the bill perfectly. Orbán seized on the halt in Russian oil deliveries to block the €90 billion loan, reneging on his own word to other EU leaders and devising an ideal Brussels-Budapest-Kyiv standoff for his campaign. And the Hungarian, who is now the longest-serving leader around the EU Council table, made the most of it by detaining an armored convoy carrying Ukrainian gold and officials, and then posting a video of himself alleging that Ukraine had threatened his family. It didn’t help that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also escalated the situation by refusing to allow EU inspectors to examine the pipeline for weeks and then saying he had no interest in repairing Druzhba. “This was building for weeks, literally. And now here we are [in] the Council, and it’s his [Orbán’s] show again,” the third EU diplomat said. European Council President António Costa, the main EU official in charge of dealing with Orbán ahead of leaders’ summits, hinted at taking a harder stance against the Hungarian prime minister in a letter he sent Orbán on Feb. 23. The letter that warned that by reneging on his support for the loan, Orbán had broken the EU’s principle of sincere cooperation, thereby exposing himself to legal consequences. But Costa didn’t follow up on the threat, with a European Council official telling POLITICO that the idea of suing Budapest over the obstruction had been dropped because the Court of Justice would “take too much time” to act. The EU needs a short-term solution for the Ukraine loan, the official said. European Council President António Costa speaks to the media in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels on March 18, 2026. | Thierry Monasse/Getty Images “This is hard to understand,” the third diplomat said. “They should have played hardball, at least tried it out, in the meantime put some temporary measures on him. It would have been at least something than this wobbling. But nothing came.” Now leaders face a dilemma as Orbán once again threatens to steal the show at the European Council meeting: Call his bluff by taking the loan off the table, and risk infuriating Zelenskyy, who has been invited to the the meeting — or embrace a confrontation with Orbán that will inevitably seem like the EU is giving in to blackmail. “There is clear reluctance to give Orbán the spotlight,” the same diplomat said. “We won’t give him that space at the EUCO. But if we fail on the loan, Zelenskyy will rightly be furious.” 

The White House is pleading with allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz — and privately assuring them that President Donald Trump is fine with high-level statements — as it pushes to calm financial markets, according to three European officials. The Trump administration is urging European and Asian allies to issue these public commitments by the end of the week, the officials said. The White House is less concerned about specific contributions at this stage, they added. All were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations. The move comes as Trump has been getting increasingly irate about allies not signing on to help keep ships moving through the vital waterway, posting on Truth Social on Tuesday: “WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!” Even just a note of public support could help reassure increasingly dismayed investors, and perhaps give the Trump administration a framework of cooperation to build on later. Those who have spoken with Trump administration officials in recent days said it’s clear the White House values the market reaction most of all, according to two of the European officials. Asked for comment, the White House pointed to Trump’s criticism of allies in the Oval Office Tuesday. “I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake,” Trump told reporters during an appearance Tuesday beside Ireland’s leader in the Oval Office. “I’ve long said … I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this is a, this was a great test, because we don’t need them, but they should have been there.” Trump’s war with Iran has put many of America’s closest allies and partners in a difficult spot. Trump didn’t brief many of these countries about the operation ahead of time. Those that got advanced notice had hours or days, not weeks, to prepare to defend their infrastructure and people in the region. In Europe, committing ships to escort tankers through the strait would take away resources needed to help defend Ukraine against Russian attacks. In the Indo-Pacific, publicly backing a Hormuz security effort risks domestic backlash in countries where another Middle East conflict is unpopular, while also raising concerns about diverting already stretched naval resources from deterring China and protecting critical regional sea lanes. It would also take time for many countries to reroute ships or other assets to the Middle East. While many of Washington’s allies are keen to find a way to support Trump’s efforts, some want to sort out the details of their contributions before signing on to the effort, one of the European officials said. “Leaders are well aware that it’s a one-way street with him, that they can no longer count on the U.S. the way they used to. But most are looking to avoid a total rupture,” another one of the European officials said. “So despite the ironic twist here, they are weighing practical and political considerations, not emotional ones. If there is a lack of interest in what he’s asking, it’s because Europe is already stretched economically and with defending Ukraine. But there is also real concern about oil prices and what it would mean if the strait is shut down.” Trump repeated his earlier complaints on Tuesday that the U.K. had been too slow to accede to his requests to send two aircraft carriers to the Strait of Hormuz. But those aircraft carriers are located in far away theaters — such as near Australia — and would take weeks to get in place, should the U.K. bow to Trump’s request. Speaking alongside Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Europe must not be distracted by the Middle East. “Putin can’t be the one who benefits from the conflict in Iran, whether that’s oil prices or the dropping of sanctions,” Starmer said. “It is really important we keep our resolve in relation to supporting Ukraine, doing everything we can to weaken the hand of Putin.” Germany, Canada and Australia, meanwhile, have ruled out any military participation. France did the same on Tuesday, with President Emmanuel Macron saying France is “not a party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz” and would only participate in naval escorts “once the situation has calmed down.” Tokyo is “vigorously examining” whether the dispatch of escort vessels “is within the bounds of the law,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday, per the Japan Times. That hesitation likely reflects the restrictions imposed by Japan’s post-war constitution, which forbid “armed troops to be dispatched to the land, sea, or airspace of other countries with the aim of using force.” Trump has flip-flopped publicly about how much the U.S. needs its allies to help protect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and has downplayed how much the shutdown of the channel affects America. Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, said Tuesday that his country was considering joining the U.S. effort to secure Hormuz. “We all have a responsibility to ensure the flow of trade, the flow of energy,” he said at an online event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. Some affected countries have talked about standing up their own operations to protect freedom of navigation when the conditions allow. European foreign ministers also met on Monday to discuss extending its Operation Aspides, which stood up last year to protect ships transiting the Red Sea amid Houthi attacks. At the same time, U.S. allies are seeking better information from Washington about what Trump and his team see as the endpoint for the war that began in late February. “Allies are still more in an, ‘Ok so, how’s it going, what’s your thinking mode. What are your assessments? We hear what you’re saying publicly on the aims, but what does success and the point you put the pencil down look like?’” the first European official said. Phelim Kine contributed to this report.

BRUSSELS — The EU’s announcement that Ukraine has accepted its offer to help repair the Druzhba oil pipeline gives Viktor Orbán a chance to end his showdown with Brussels over a loan to Kyiv, according to two EU officials. Two days before EU leaders meet for crunch talks in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa said that “the Ukrainians have welcomed and accepted” an offer of “technical support and funding” to help repair the damaged pipeline, in a bid to restore Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia. Orbán has refused to back a €90 billion loan to fund Ukraine’s war effort unless the oil starts flowing. The agreement gives Orbán a way out of the standoff with the EU as he attempts to overturn a nine-point polling deficit ahead of Hungary’s April 12 election, according to the two officials, who granted anonymity to speak freely on the sensitive diplomacy, as were others in this article. In a video posted to social media after Tuesday’s pipeline news, Orbán doubled down, saying that “if there is no oil, there is no money” for Ukraine. But a diplomat familiar with Budapest’s thinking hinted there could be room for a breakthrough ahead of Thursday’s summit, given the movement from the EU and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Brussels wants Orbán to lift his veto on the delayed 20th package of sanctions against Russia and on the loan to Ukraine, which EU leaders, including the Hungarian prime minister, agreed to in December. Orbán later changed his mind, taking the unprecedented step backtracking on a decision agreed at a European Council meeting. Two senior EU officials said Brussels believed Orbán was looking for an off-ramp. Orbán has used the spat with Ukraine over the Druzhba pipeline to score political points against his rival, Tisza party leader Péter Magyar. Orbán accused Kyiv of intentionally delaying repairs to the pipeline, which was damaged during a Russian drone attack in late January, to help Magyar in the election — a claim Tisza and Kyiv strongly deny. Zelenskyy has denied he has been slow-walking repairs to the pipeline for political reasons. He said he didn’t want to fix Druzhba both because Russia has repeatedly attacked it, including during repair works, and because doing so would help fill the Kremlin’s coffers and allow Moscow to continue its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has decried the pressure placed on him by his EU allies, accusing them at the weekend of “blackmail.” But on Tuesday, Zelenskyy finally agreed to the request. In a letter sent to von der Leyen and Costa, Zelenskyy said, “We are undertaking all possible efforts to repair the damage and restore operations” of the pipeline. “Ukraine is a reliable energy partner for the European Union and honours fully its commitments,” he added. In their response to Zelenskyy, von der Leyen and Costa said his acquiescence “would allow [the EU] to move forward in a timely manner with the EU Ukraine Support Loan funding for your own macro-economic stability and for the purchase of defence equipment, as well as the final adoption of the 20th package of sanctions.” The Council and Commission presidents also said their priority “is to ensure energy security for all European citizens,” while working on “alternative routes for the transit of non-Russian crude oil” to Central and Eastern Europe. Speaking to POLITICO on Monday, before the announcement, Hungary’s EU Minister János Bóka said: “I see that the mood has changed after the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East. I think now that most member states do understand that the Ukrainian decision to cut off access to the Druzhba pipeline undermines energy security and security of supply in the Central European region, and this will have implications for the European Union as a whole.” “I think that this understanding is slowly but surely sinking in and my feeling is that the Commission can no longer pretend that it is OK not to do anything in order to help two member states in securing their energy supplies through Ukraine via the Druzhba pipeline,” Bóka added. The episode has been a bruising one for Brussels and for Ukraine, which needs the EU cash to keep afloat through this year and was meant to start receiving the money from April. A previous bid to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine collapsed at the last minute in December amid opposition from Belgium. Any EU country can block the €90 billion loan, because one of the bills that needs approval before the cash can be disbursed requires a unanimous yes from all member countries. Kyiv was expected to run out of money by April, but the urgency eased somewhat after the International Monetary Fund approved an $8.1 billion loan late last month. Ukraine should have enough money to stay solvent until early May, POLITICO reported last week. The EU now appears cautiously optimistic that Orbán may climb down from blocking the loan and sanctions — but potentially not until after the Hungarian election next month. Costa expects Orbán to follow through on the commitment he made at the December EU leaders’ summit “in the very short run,” said one of the EU officials above. But while a German official conceded there is now “some momentum” to resolve the issues over Druzhba, whether a deal on the €90 billion loan will be done at Thursday’s leaders’ summit “remains to be seen.” Nette Nöstlinger, Sebastian Starcevic, Gabriel Gavin and Gerardo Fortuna contributed reporting.