New Delhi, April 25 -- In the early months of 2026, as the Russia Ukraine War stretched deeper into its third year, a critical financial lifeline for Kyiv became entangled in a geopolitical standoff that exposed the fragile balance between Europe's political unity and its energy dependence.

At the center of the dispute was a €90 billion European Union loan package intended to stabilize Ukraine's economy and sustain its military operations. But in February, Hungary moved to block the measure, linking its approval to the resumption of Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline, a vital artery supplying energy to Central Europe.

The move underscored a widening fracture inside the EU, where national energy security concerns increa...