BRUSSELS, February 27. /TASS/. The European Commission has begun discussions with Kiev about sending a European mission to Ukraine to assess the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline, European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said at a briefing in Brussels.

"We are in continuous contact with our Ukrainian counterparts on this (sending a mission to assess the state of the Druzhba pipeline - TASS). As regards Commission experts we don’t have information at this stage," she said responding to a relevant question.

Without waiting for the mission's findings, she stated that the European Commission believes the pipeline was damaged, declining to comment on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's statement that the pipeline was actually operational.

"We have not received information about the repair timeline," Itkonen said. She declined to comment on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s words that the pipeline is actually operational.

Earlier Itkonen repeatedly stated that the European Commission was not demanding that Ukraine speed up repairs to the pipeline. Only after Hungary and Slovakia blocked sanctions and funding for Kiev and halted energy supplies to Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced at a press conference in Kiev that the EC was asking Ukraine to speed up the repairs.

The European Commission fully shares Kiev's position on this matter and is preparing a complete ban on purchases of Russian oil by EU countries, even if sanctions are lifted.

Intentional damage

Earlier today, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that the pipeline is currently undamaged, but he cannot rule out the possibility of deliberate damage by Ukrainian authorities prior to the arrival of the European verification mission.

Oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline have been halted since January 27. On February 15, Hungary and Slovakia asked Croatia to allow the transit of Russian oil through the Adriatic Pipeline. The crude is expected to be delivered to the Croatian port of Omisalj by sea. Budapest believes this can be done in full compliance with EU regulations, as Hungary and Slovakia were previously exempted from sanctions bans on the purchase of Russian oil transported via pipelines. According to Bratislava, the interruption of gas transit through Ukrainian territory alone causes losses to Slovakia in the amount of 500 million euros.